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Proceeding Paper

Antimicrobial Resistance: Professional and Public Education, Engagement, and Training Activities 2021–2022 (ESPAUR Report) †

by
Catherine V. Hayes
1,*,
Jordan Charlesworth
1,
Diane Ashiru-Oredope
1,
Eirwen Sides
1,
Amy Jackson
1,
Emily Cooper
1,
Brieze Read
1,
Donna Seaton
2,
Lorna Flintham
2,
Harpreet Sidhu
3 and
Donna M. Lecky
1,*
1
HCAI, Fungal, AMR, AMU & Sepsis Division, UK Health Security Agency, London SW1P 3JR, UK
2
Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
3
Department of Pharmacy, Aston University, Aston St, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Presented at the ESPAUR 2021/22 Webinar, Antibiotic Guardian, 23 November 2022; Available online: https://antibioticguardian.com/Meetings/espaur-2021-22-webinar/.
Med. Sci. Forum 2022, 15(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/msf2022015019
Published: 5 July 2023
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of ESPAUR Report Webinar and Antibiotic Guardian Shared Learning Awards)
Browse Figures
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
This is a summary of initiatives to engage and educate the general public and healthcare professionals about antimicrobial use, stewardship and resistance, as covered in the 2021–2022 English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance (ESPAUR) Report. Activities led by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and collaborating organisations are highlighted.

1. Introduction

The education and engagement of healthcare professionals (HCPs) and the public are crucial to antimicrobial stewardship (AMS), and are highlighted in the UK 20-year vision for tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the 5-year National Action Plan (NAP) [1,2]. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted education and training. However, as social restrictions eased, there was renewed vigour for professional and public education, engagement, and training. This paper summarizes Chapter 6 of the annual English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance (ESPAUR) report, detailing the UKHSA-led education and training activities in England from 2021 to 2022 [3,4]. These findings were presented at the ESPAUR Report webinar on 23 November 2022.

2. Healthcare Professional Training

Remote learning, established during the COVID-19 pandemic, continued across all sectors for the training of HCPs, including online training modules, online conferences, and webinars. Training focused on renewing key AMS messages across the patient pathway, using the TARGET Antibiotic Toolkit resources [5] and discussing antibiotics with patients. There is currently no mandatory training on AMS for HCPs.

3. Public and Professional Engagement

The Antibiotic Guardian (AG) campaign [6] engages professionals and the public to pledge to help keep antibiotics working. Since launching in 2014 to the end of 2021, there were 144,446 pledges on the main AG webpage (Figure 1). A total of 65% of all pledges were made by those identifying as a health/social care professional or leader, and of these, 72% were from pharmacy teams (including primary and secondary care and community pharmacies).
An evaluation of the AG campaign focused on the public and pharmacy workers. A survey of pharmacy workers identified statistically significant differences in the AMS capability of different roles across the pharmacy profession [7]. Qualitative interviews with the public who had pledged to be an Antibiotic Guardian identified motivations based on moral obligation, personal responsibility, and uncertainty about the future.
The Antibiotic Guardian School Ambassadors programme was first piloted in 2019 and connects HCPs with local schools and community groups to educate people about AMR. A total of 110 colleagues registered in 2021, and pharmacists have been accounted for the most volunteers each year. Ambassadors reported the personal and professional benefits of participating.
World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) and the European Antimicrobial Awareness Day (EAAD) 2021 aimed to engage HCPs and the public on tackling AMR. Continuing the precedent set during the COVID-19 pandemic, the campaign was mainly digital, focusing on sharing information via social media and digital notes. Twitter activity during WAAW 2021 included 15,452 tweets from 6189 users, and 37,719 retweets from 17,808 users during the week.

4. Public Engagement

The e-Bug programme [8], operated by UKHSA, provides educational resources to support children and young people (aged 3–16 years) in all communities with information on infection prevention and AMR topics (see Figure 2). The e-Bug educational resources underwent a full review and update, and with support from NHS England, they were disseminated to every maintained school and academy across England (over 20,000 schools) in January 2022. See Figure 3 for more detail on e-Bug activities.

5. Conclusions

Future work in public and professional education includes plans for a national implementation of TARGET and e-Bug training and resources, aiming for the consistent education of HCPs and the public in the future.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, D.M.L. and D.A-O.; methodology, C.V.H., J.C., D.A-O., E.S.; A.J.; E.C.; B.R., D.S., L.F., H.S. and D.M.L.; formal analysis, C.V.H., J.C., E.S., A.J., E.C., B.R., D.S., L.F. and H.S.; data curation, C.V.H., J.C., E.S., A.J., E.C., B.R., D.S., L.F. and H.S.; writing—original draft preparation, C.V.H., J.C., E.S., A.J., E.C., B.R., D.S., L.F. and H.S.; writing—review and editing, C.V.H., J.C., D.A.-O., E.S., A.J., E.C., B.R., D.S., L.F., H.S. and D.M.L.; supervision, D.M.L. and D.A.-O. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Full data are available in this year’s ESPAUR report [4].

Acknowledgments

Thank you to contributors: Fionna Pursey, Magda Hann, Claire Neill, Marzena Edwards, Gillian Hayes, Rose Hadden, Sarah Tonkin-Crine, Monsey MacLeod, Rabia Ahmed, Roger Harrison, Isla Gemmell, Elizabeth Dalgarno, and Jon White for creating the infographics. The authors would like to acknowledge the ESPAUR Oversight Group members.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

  1. UK 5-Year Action Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance 2019 to 2024; Department of Health and Social Care: London, UK, 2019.
  2. UK 20-Year Vision for Antimicrobial Resistance; Department of Health and Social Care: London, UK, 2019.
  3. Ashiru-Oredope, D.; Hopkins, S.; on behalf of the English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilization and Resistance Oversight Group. Antimicrobial stewardship: English surveillance programme for antimicrobial utilization and resistance (ESPAUR). J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 2013, 68, 2421–2423. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
  4. Hayes, C.V.; Charlesworth, J.; Ashiru-Oredope, D.; Sides, E.; Jackson, A.; Cooper, E.; Read, B.; Seaton, D.; Flintham, L.; Sidhu, H.; et al. Chapter 6 Professional and public education, engagement, and training. In The English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance (ESPAUR) Report 2021 to 2022; UK Health Security Agency: London, UK, 2022. [Google Scholar]
  5. Royal College of General Practitioners. TARGET Antibiotics Toolkit Hub. Available online: https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/course/view.php?id=553 (accessed on 15 August 2022).
  6. Antibiotic Guardian. Available online: https://antibioticguardian.com (accessed on 19 October 2022).
  7. Seaton, D.; Ashiru-Oredope, D.; Charlesworth, J.; Gemmell, I.; Harrison, R. Evaluating UK Pharmacy Workers’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviour towards Antimicrobial Stewardship and Assessing the Impact of Training in Community Pharmacy. Pharmacy 2022, 10, 98. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  8. e-Bug. Available online: https://e-Bug.eu (accessed on 19 October 2022).
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Figure 1. An infographic summarising Antibiotic Guardian pledge activity between 2017 and the end of 2021, alongside information on Antibiotic Guardian-related activity. Infographic adapted with permission from Ref. [4]. Copyright 2022 UK Health Security Agency.
Figure 1. An infographic summarising Antibiotic Guardian pledge activity between 2017 and the end of 2021, alongside information on Antibiotic Guardian-related activity. Infographic adapted with permission from Ref. [4]. Copyright 2022 UK Health Security Agency.
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Figure 2. Infection prevention and AMR topics covered in the e-Bug educational resources. Infographic adapted with permission from Ref. [4]. Copyright 2022 UK Health Security Agency.
Figure 2. Infection prevention and AMR topics covered in the e-Bug educational resources. Infographic adapted with permission from Ref. [4]. Copyright 2022 UK Health Security Agency.
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Figure 3. e-Bug programme activities from 2021 to 2022. Infographic adapted with permission from Ref. [4]. Copyright 2022 UK Health Security Agency.
Figure 3. e-Bug programme activities from 2021 to 2022. Infographic adapted with permission from Ref. [4]. Copyright 2022 UK Health Security Agency.
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Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Hayes, C.V.; Charlesworth, J.; Ashiru-Oredope, D.; Sides, E.; Jackson, A.; Cooper, E.; Read, B.; Seaton, D.; Flintham, L.; Sidhu, H.; et al. Antimicrobial Resistance: Professional and Public Education, Engagement, and Training Activities 2021–2022 (ESPAUR Report). Med. Sci. Forum 2022, 15, 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/msf2022015019

AMA Style

Hayes CV, Charlesworth J, Ashiru-Oredope D, Sides E, Jackson A, Cooper E, Read B, Seaton D, Flintham L, Sidhu H, et al. Antimicrobial Resistance: Professional and Public Education, Engagement, and Training Activities 2021–2022 (ESPAUR Report). Medical Sciences Forum. 2022; 15(1):19. https://doi.org/10.3390/msf2022015019

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hayes, Catherine V., Jordan Charlesworth, Diane Ashiru-Oredope, Eirwen Sides, Amy Jackson, Emily Cooper, Brieze Read, Donna Seaton, Lorna Flintham, Harpreet Sidhu, and et al. 2022. "Antimicrobial Resistance: Professional and Public Education, Engagement, and Training Activities 2021–2022 (ESPAUR Report)" Medical Sciences Forum 15, no. 1: 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/msf2022015019

APA Style

Hayes, C. V., Charlesworth, J., Ashiru-Oredope, D., Sides, E., Jackson, A., Cooper, E., Read, B., Seaton, D., Flintham, L., Sidhu, H., & Lecky, D. M. (2022). Antimicrobial Resistance: Professional and Public Education, Engagement, and Training Activities 2021–2022 (ESPAUR Report). Medical Sciences Forum, 15(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/msf2022015019

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