Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest global threats we face today. Human overuse ofantibiotics is a contributing factor and major behaviour change around antibioticconsumption is needed, but several challenges exist in communicating antibiotic resistanceto the public. In 2018 the UK Government relaunched a national television advertisement aspart of the ‘Keep Antibiotics Working’ campaign which aimed to raise awareness of antibioticresistance and reduce public demand for antibiotics. This study evaluates what role theframing of antibiotic resistance in the advertisement played in increasing publicunderstanding of antibiotic resistance and motivating behaviour change. The study isgrounded in behaviour change and health communication theory from the field ofCommunication for Development, and health and social psychology theory, reflecting theneed for multidisciplinary approaches to addressing antibiotic resistance. A textual analysisidentified how the issue was framed in the advertisement and surveys and interviews wereconducted with members of the target audience groups to analyse what effect theadvertisement had on their understanding of, and attitude towards antibiotic resistance.The findings show that the framing of antibiotic resistance in the TV advertisement led to anincrease in misunderstandings of what becomes resistant to antibiotics. The advertisementwas helpful in highlighting the vulnerability of antibiotics and for creating a new social normaround being a responsible antibiotic user, however was interpreted as childish byparticipants. It did not communicate the severity of antibiotic resistance or specific risk ofantibiotic overuse to the audience, or accurately reflect the audience’s existing knowledge ofantibiotic resistance and current behaviours. As the severity of antibiotic resistance was notconveyed, the advertisement did not motivate a change in antibiotic seeking behaviours orattitude amongst the majority of participants. The findings did highlight knowledge gapsamongst study participants including the importance of completing a course of antibiotics asprescribed, and that it is the bacteria itself, not the person, that develops resistance, andhopes this research can inform the development of future campaigns.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:mau-21079 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Anjuli, Borgonha |
| Publisher | Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), Malmö universitet/Kultur och samhälle |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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