Addressing Loneliness in Schools
This project is a chance for participating schools to think deeply about their students’ social health.
We are delighted to be working on a project focused on addressing loneliness in schools with the support of the Astra Foundation and Hallmark Foundation. This is an important piece of work and one that we have wanted to do for a long time since loneliness is both an unpleasant experience in its own right and is associated with:
- More negative attitudes to school
- Lower educational attainment
- Higher levels of anxiety and depression
- Worse physical health and higher levels of health damaging behaviours
The project builds on an evidence-based framework and on resources already shared in the ‘Brief guide to addressing loneliness among young people at school’. For the current project we have been working with staff and students in two secondary schools.
In each school, we have been working with staff and students to collect data to one year provide insight into loneliness in that specific school context and to co-design a tailored plan of action aimed at increasing social connection and belonging, and at reducing loneliness among students. Following implementation of these plans, we will collect further data to evaluate impact.
We intend to share learning from the project widely and to use it to encourage a big conversation among education, public health and other interested colleagues, and as a catalyst for further action and research on addressing loneliness among young people at school.
If you would like more information, please contact Dr Helen MacIntyre (project lead and researcher) – helen@neighbourlylab.com.
For more information about Neighbourly Lab’s work on loneliness, please email marnie@neighbourlylab.com. We look forward to hearing from you.