#8 How do we change behaviour around antimicrobial resistance?

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is not only a biological issue,
but a complex social problem. As a consequence, changing the way
patients, healthcare professionals and policymakers think about
antibiotics will require input from both the natural and social
sciences. In March 2021, the Uppsala Health Summit on “Managing
antimicrobial resistance through behaviour change” tackled this
very problem. We spoke to three key participants – Otto Cars,
Eldar Shafir and Vanessa Carter – to learn more.

Tune in to find out:


How the COVID-19 pandemic might affect AMR globally

How the context around us influences the decisions we make

How patients’ stories can help communicate the urgency of AMR



Want to know more?
The Uppsala Health Summit is a recurring international
policy arena for dialogue on healthcare challenges and how we can
overcome them.

Otto Cars is founder and now senior advisor to ReACT (Action on
Antibiotic Resistance). He set the scene at Uppsala Health Summit
2021 with a lecture on the current status of AMR globally. In a
recent interview, he described how to make the most of the
COVID-19 momentum to spur much-needed action in the AMR
sphere.

Eldar Shafir is professor of behavioural science and public
policy at Princeton University, with a special interest in the
effect of poverty on decision-making. In his keynote lecture at
the summit, he commented on the AMR problem from a behavioural
perspective. He points us to a 2016 research paper on the effect
of behavioural interventions on inappropriate antibiotic
prescribing.

Vanessa Carter is a South Africa-based patient advocate for AMR
and e-patient scholar at Stanford University Medicine X. She
suggests reading Tom Ferguson’s white paper on e-patients and
their contribution to healthcare.

This episode was produced in collaboration with The AMR Studio
podcast at Uppsala Antibiotic Center. Tune into their show for
more stories on antimicrobial resistance.





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