Raising awareness about AMR: toolkits for healthcare professionals

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) demands action and education by professionals and the public alike. This blog collates resources and materials for raising awareness that have been developed by UKHSA, Health Education England and partners.

Treat Antibiotics Responsibly, Guidance, Education, Tools – the TARGET toolkit

The TARGET Antibiotics Toolkit produced by UKHSA in collaboration with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) includes a range of resources that can be used to support prescribers and patients with responsible antibiotic use, helping to fulfil CPD and medical revalidation requirements.

TARGET is designed to be used by the whole primary care team within the GP practice, out-of-hours setting or community pharmacy and the resources can be used flexibly, either as standalone materials or as part of an integrated package.

Antimicrobial Awareness resources

The UKHSA has published a resource toolkit to help the NHS, local authorities and others support European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD), World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2021 (WAAW) and the Antibiotic Guardian campaign, to encourage responsible use of antibiotics. Our guidance details national resources developed for promoting antimicrobial stewardship, and suggestions for how these can be used to support local awareness raising initiatives. .

e-Bug

e-Bug (operated by UKHSA) is a free educational resource designed to improve young people’s knowledge and understanding about microbes, infection prevention and control, and prudent antibiotic use, thereby empowering them to be proactive in looking after their own health.

The resources consist of a range of fun and interactive activities to complement learning, including games, quizzes, and debate kits. All activities and lesson plans comply with the Department for Education educational standards for junior and senior schools (Early Years, Key Stage 1, 2, 3 and 4).

Other resources available in the e-Bug toolkit include

Beat the Bugs: a six week community hygiene course aiming to increase awareness and change behaviour around antibiotic use

Educator training courses: for educators and members of the community who teach children and young people

• Educator resources
• Community resources
• Training resources

Find out more on the e-Bug website and sign up now for the e-Bug newsletter! Receive quarterly updates on e-Bugs activities and learn more about how you could be involved.

Antibiotic Guardian Schools Ambassadors

The Antibiotic Guardian Schools Ambassadors programme aims to connect public health, healthcare workers and scientists with local schools, in order to share learning on infection prevention, hygiene and AMR.

In the first year (2019), AG Schools Ambassadors were able to deliver live sessions in schools during World Antimicrobial Awareness Week This was not possible in 2020, so instead, Ambassadors were asked promote a short article to schools for inclusion in their school newsletters.

This year, an updated newsletter item has been provided to promote to local schools and a toolkit of teaching materials – based on eBug resources – has been provided. This allows ambassadors to either give a teaching session in person, online, or promote the toolkit to schools for them to plan a lesson themselves.

To use the resources, register as an AG schools Ambassador here. Be sure to encourage your school to register their activity via this short online form.

Dental Antimicrobial Stewardship Toolkit

The dental antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) toolkit for primary care includes resources to help primary care practitioners promote the appropriate use of antibiotics in dental care. The toolkit was developed in collaboration between the Dental Subgroup of Public Health England’s English surveillance programme for antimicrobial utilisation and resistance (ESPAUR), Faculty of General Dental Practice (FGDP) and British Dental Association (BDA).

AMR and Infections programme – e-learning

The Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and Infections programme has been designed to support health and care staff – both clinical and non-clinical – in a variety of settings to understand the threats posed by antimicrobial resistance, and the ways they can help to tackle this major health issue. This programme has been developed by Health Education England (HEE) in collaboration with UKHSA, NHS England and NHS Improvement, Care Quality Commission and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Antibiotic resistance poses a major threat to everyday life and modern day medicine where lives could be lost as a result of antibiotics not working as they should. All health and care staff, as well as the public, have a very important role in preserving the power of antibiotics and in controlling and preventing the spread of infections. Amongst the approaches to reduce this threat includes adequate infection prevention and control practices, good antimicrobial stewardship and the use of diagnostics.

Visit HEE  website for more information on our AMR work.

Read our blog on the scale of the problem we face from AMR.

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Contributor: Blog Editor