Abstract

Increased public awareness of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a key component of effective antimicrobial stewardship strategies. Educational theatre combined with an expert panel was used to engage the public about AMR through delivery of a play entitled 'The drugs don't work'. Audience knowledge and understanding of AMR were measured by pre- and post-play questionnaires. Performance of the play and discussion with the expert panel significantly improved audience knowledge and understanding of AMR, including antibiotic misuse and prescribing. Educational theatre provides a positive learning experience and is an innovative method of public engagement to disseminate important public health messages.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)193-197
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Hospital Infection
Volume104
Issue number2
Early online date16 Oct 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2020

Bibliographical note

© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Healthcare Infection Society. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Funding: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/M02735X/1.

Keywords

  • Antimicrobial resistance
  • Educational theatre
  • Health education
  • Public engagement

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