Unlocking Perspectives: A Journey through Communication, Narratives, and Antimicrobial Resistance
Nicola Osmond-Evans | 2nd April 2024
On Thursday 16 May 2024, the Communication, Narratives, and Antimicrobial Resistance Workshop will be held at Merton College, Oxford. We caught up with co-organiser Dr. Will Matlock, Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Computational Biology in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford.
Will can you tell us a bit about yourself and your involvement in the workshop?
I work in a clinical microbiology lab, analysing the different bugs that patients catch across Oxfordshire. Increasingly, we are finding that our antibiotics are less effective, complicating the treatment of infections and increasing mortality rates. In part, this is down to how the genetic code of bacteria is evolving. I work on how the genetic mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) spread: between patients in a ward, between children in a school, between residents in a community. By unpicking the genetics of bacteria, we hope to develop better interventions to manage AMR.
The workshop came about after I met Dr. Sally Frampton, a medical historian. It became clear that we cared about the same questions surrounding AMR, but were stuck within our disciplinary silos. Our solution was to gather a diverse range of stakeholders for a day of discussions, to try and break down those barriers. We were then joined by Dr. Tess Johnson and Dr. Alberto Giubilini, public health ethicists, and together we invited a spectrum of participants from patient activism, journalism, philosophy, microbiology, history, medicine, nursing, policy, art and design, and beyond.
Can you tell us about the workshop?
One of the major hurdles with interdisciplinary work is the language barrier: we are all using different words for the same concepts. Our workshop hopes to confront this head on. We will examine how AMR research filters down to the public, for example through policy and art. We will also examine patient experiences of AMR, with a focus on prescriptions for antibiotics. We are looking forward to the insights and solutions that will emerge from this workshop.
The workshop will be a platform for interdisciplinary discussions, exploring the following three sessions:
- Dissemination of AMR information:
Participants will examine the complexities of communicating information about AMR. Recognising the challenges in conveying this critical information, we will explore effective strategies to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and public understanding.
- Patient narratives surrounding antibiotics:
This session aims to explore the extent to which patients feel their experiences with AMR are adequately represented and how these narratives can be more effectively communicated to policymakers, researchers, and clinicians.
- Power and prescribing:
Participants will explore existing structures for doctors to communicate AMR-related information to patients and vice versa. The session will also investigate the distribution of responsibility for antibiotic prescribing decisions and the potential pressures exerted on healthcare professionals, analysing the influence of information and communication on these dynamics.
Interspersed throughout the day, we will also have three keynotes discussing the scientific, historic, and informatic facets of AMR research.
How are you working with Antibiotic Research UK?
We have worked closely to represent and amplify the patient voice in the workshop, and are excited to hear from an expert patient on the day. It is crucial that our research inquiries are grounded in lived experience, especially as the human cost of AMR increases.
Funding:
The workshop is made possible through the generous sponsorship of the John Fell Fund (via the Medical Humanities Program) and the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford.
More here:
https://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/event/communication-narratives-and-antimicrobial-resistance-workshop
