Research and impact
What is needed to understand healthcare professional antimicrobial practices?
Understanding how healthcare professionals perceive, value and use antimicrobials - as well as the context in which they develop work practices related to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) - are key to research led by The Open University.
Although AMR is often described through biological mechanisms it is shaped by social, cultural, political and economic drivers. These drivers are difficult to anticipate and plan for but a focus on them is required to:
- meet this complex challenge
- generate innovative approaches to strengthening capacity
- foster connections between scientific communities and AMR stakeholders, including health practitioners.
Our research
We view ‘learning’ and ‘learning for work’ as critical for innovation and the adoption of new and contemporary work practices in rapidly evolving fields such as AMR. A key challenge lies in connecting professional communities with diverse ways of knowing and doing that shape how professionals navigate and respond to on-going changes in their work.
Our research focuses on:
- How healthcare professionals organise their AMR-related work
- how they adapt, change or develop new practices
- how these processes strengthen lab capacity, AMR stewardship and surveillance systems
We also examine the impact of technologies and digital networks and how the design of interventions supported by digital technology can support systemic shifts in professional practice and the development of new sustainable approaches to AMR.
An evidence-informed programme of courses designed to tackle Antimicrobial Resistance
The Fleming Fund ‘Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance’ project at The Open University (2018 to 2026), aimed to promote and produced high-quality research on technology-supported educational interventions for diverse professional communities and geographies.
The programme draws on social and interdisciplinary research to develop innovative approaches to the challenge of learning about and for AMR. The online courses that you find in this Tackling AMR programme are a key output of the programme and will continue to be offered for free worldwide.
Below you will find relevant links to the programme, knowledge exchange, people and other related projects at The Open University.
Meet the team
From The Open University:
Professor Hilary MacQueen
Dr Jennika Virhia
Dr Natalie Tegama
Dr Heli Kaatrakoski
Olivier Biard
Tim Seal
Paola Di Munari
Claire Furlong
Claire Forbes
From other organisations:
Professor Allison Littlejohn (University College London)
Professor Abhinav Vaidya (Nepal Public Health Research and Development Centre)
Santoshi Giri (Nepal Public Health Research and Development Centre)
Professor Peter Olupot-Olupot (Mbale Clinical Research Institute)
Other projects:
Tackling AMR through professional learning Open Societal Challenge
