Beat Bad Microbes – Raising awareness of antibiotic resistance in Rwanda through design

Beat Bad Microbes – Raising awareness of antibiotic resistance in Rwanda through design

Raising awareness of antibiotic resistance in Rwanda through design

In 2018 the CPA partnered with the University of Reading and the Rwanda Community Pharmacists Union to produce educational resources and tools for community pharmacists to help educate the public on AMR. These resources are now available for download. Below is a summary of the project.

Beat Bad Microbes in Rwanda is a University of Reading’s Global Challenges Research Fund project that introduced design thinking to communicate information about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antibiotic misuse, and to influence behaviour change. The cross- disciplinary collaboration project team includes academics from the Universities of Reading (UoR) and Rwanda (UoRw), Design Science (DS), the Rwandan Community Pharmacists’ Union (RCPU) and the Commonwealth Pharmacy Association (CPA).

We are pleased to share resources to make and use in pharmacies to educate people about antibiotic resistance.

These resources were co-designed in Rwanda with pharmacists and members of the public who use community pharmacies.

The antibiotic record card

The antibiotic record card

The antibiotic record card lists antibiotics taken by patients along with any side effects they may have experienced. The card is a quick guide to help pharmacists have an informed conversation with their patient about antibiotics.

Antibiotic advice leaflets

Antibiotic advice leaflets

Two advice leaflets are available for pharmacists to advise and give to patients:

Do you need antibiotics? + Completing your antibiotic course

Taking antibiotics with or without food + Concerns about side effects

These resources were made in collaboration with the Rwandan Community Pharmacists Union (RCPU) were piloted in pharmacies in Kigali. Pharmacists there found that use of the materials led to improvements in day-to-day working practices for pharmacists keen to raise awareness of AMR, as well as recognition for the role they can play in raising public awareness of AMR. We also demonstrated that community pharmacies are ideal places to encourage people to change their behaviour in relation to the use of antibiotics.

We have prepared information

We have prepared information

to guide you through giving out the antibiotic record card and explaining to your patient how to use it.

 

Download the print-friendly version of this information here:

Giving out the antibiotic record card

  1. You will need to ask your patient whether they have a card, or whether they need a new one.
  2. Fill out the ‘To be completed by your pharmacist’ section with the date, your patient’s condition and their antibiotics.
  3. You will need to explain to your patient how to use the card. If they cannot complete the card suggest they ask someone to help them. Point to each section and show your patient which parts they need to fill in.

 

‘Information about me’ + ‘Information about my pharmacy and doctor’

  • Ask your patient to fill in the information about them and their doctor’s contact details.
  • You should fill in the information about your pharmacy.
  • Tell your patient it is helpful for you and other healthcare professionals to have their personal details. These help to make sure you are talking about the right person and make it quicker to communicate should you, the doctor or your patient have questions.

 

‘Information about my antibiotics’

  • Ask your patient to fill in the ‘Information about my antibiotics’ section when they have completed their course.

 

‘How long did it take you to feel better’

  • Explain that it’s helpful to know how long it was before they felt better.
  • It’s important to remind patients that even though they may feel better after a few days they must complete the course to make sure all the bad microbes have been killed.

 

‘Did you have any side effects’

  • Tell your patient that some medications can cause side effects such as stomach upset or nausea and that these are often short lived and pass in a few days.
  • Explain what an allergic reaction is and advise your patient to see their doctor if they think they may be allergic.
  • Tell your patient that an allergic reaction to one type of antibiotic means that an alternative can be prescribed.
Give your patients one of these leaflets if they need more information.

Give your patients one of these leaflets if they need more information.

How to print and fold these resources

To make the card and leaflets, you will need to download the PDF files from this website.

Print the antibiotic record card and the leaflets. The leaflets and card fit each on to an A4 sheet. Print them out in colour, or in black-and-white if you only have access to a black-and-white printer.

When you have printed them out, you need to fold them carefully as shown here.

Folding instructions

Download the print-friendly version of the instructions or watch a video on how to fold the antibiotic card and leaflets here:

Resources

Files to print

How to use the Antibiotic Record Card

Project team:

Project team:

Sue Walker, Rachel Warner, Josefina Bravo, Rosemary Lim (University of Reading); Manjula Halai (Design Science and University of Reading), Anne Odling-Smee (Design Science), Victoria Rutter, Diane Ashiru-Oredope, Chloe Tuck (CPA), Flandrie Habyarimana (RCPU), Egide Kayitare (University of Rwanda). Funded by the University of Reading’s Global Challenges Research Fund for Equitable Partnerships.