The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has awarded a second grant to Dr Esmita Charani to develop two short animations

Dr Esmita Charani, Lead Research Pharmacist at the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in HCAIs and AMR was awarded the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Accelerator grant.

This Accelerator grant was awarded to enable a wider dissemination of the findings of two qualitative studies that were undertaken as part of her Dr Charani’s thesis, with the aim to develop two short pieces of animation. This will allow the HPRU to develop a series of animations on the impact of team culture dynamics on prescribing.

Esmita will be organising a ‘public debate’ question time style event to which we will invite healthcare professionals from medicine and surgery, together with a panel of experts, and members of the public and play the film to them. The event will encourage a public debate about narratives in the story and the experiences of the characters in the story and how it relates to their own daily practice and experiences. The animated films will also feature on international conferences, on social media and via professional networks to help highlight the global challenges facing healthcare professionals in the battle with antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic prescribing.

It is envisaged that using animation, real-life narratives, and storytelling, will provide an engaging and effective communication platform for a debate and dialogue on the public health issues facing healthcare professionals and patients and the public worldwide on the subject of antimicrobial resistance. In addition this will be an attempt to use a novel communication means to educate and inform a wide international and local audience about scientific research.