A Brief Description of How Teachers Experience An Infographic Loneliness Toolkit About Supporting Adolescents to Overcome Loneliness

Abstract

Loneliness is a common experience amongst adolescents. As adolescents spend much of their time in school, it is important that school staff can support adolescent students experiencing loneliness. The current study aimed to explore teachers’ experiences of a 1-page loneliness toolkit regarding adolescent loneliness. An online survey to collect ratings and descriptions of experiences was distributed to secondary school teachers. Findings showed that both self-rated knowledge and experience of students experiencing loneliness were positively correlated with how useful teachers found the loneliness toolkit. Three themes were developed about how useful teachers found the toolkit; clarity, brings attention to loneliness, and communication. Two themes were developed about how the user experience of the toolkit could be improved; education, and interactive student support. Future research should investigate more effective methodologies aimed at supporting adolescents experiencing loneliness to aid teachers in supporting their students.