The role of different breaks from work for well-being and health among ageing teachers

The aim is to investigate recovery from work stress among ageing teachers and headmasters. The project comprises three sub-studies. The aim of the first sub-study is to get an overview of internal (occurring during work) and external (occurring during off-job time) recovery via a questionnaire study among teachers from different age groups.

The second sub-study aims to investigate in more detail the role of different at-work breaks using a one-week diary study design. The aim of the third sub-study is to find out whether it is possible to strengthen and to prolong beneficial effects of vacations after work resumption using a smartphone app.

Goal

Although recovery from work stress has received a lot of research attention, there are still gaps in the research, which the present study addresses with three sub-studies.

These research gaps relate to investigating 1) the role of ageing in recovery, 2) internal recovery occurring during breaks at work, 3) the interplay between internal and external recovery.

Teachers recovery from work stress has been seldom examined, although teaching is identified among highly stressful occupations. In all, by generating and disseminating new insights on recovery from work stress, we strive to prolong healthy working careers in ageing teachers.