Francesco M. Labricciosa, MD, Specialist in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious global health threat. Unfortunately, shortcomings in AMR communication are an obstacle to improving knowledge and raising public awareness, both essential factors in promoting behavioural change.
Although still relatively unexplored in the context of AMR communication, metaphors are promising tools. They can make abstract and complex scientific concepts easier to understand framing them in more concrete and familiar terms.
To enhance global public-facing risk communication about AMR, a research group led by Eva M. Krockow developed new metaphors targeting common misconceptions and incorrect behaviours. The study, which actively involved stakeholders and health professionals,was recently published in Scientific Reports.
A series of co-design workshops with the public and doctors in the United Kingdom, and with the public in South Africa, initially generated 89 metaphors, which were subsequently extended through 101 additional suggestions. Then, using the UCLA/RAND appropriateness method, 37 AMR communication experts from 27 countries evaluated these metaphors through an international 3-stage e-Delphi study, applying the UCLA/RAND appropriateness method..
This process produced a set of 38 recommended metaphors suitable for global public health messaging, drawn from diverse source domains.
Nature and gardening emerged as the most endorsed metaphorical domains, leveraging universally shared experiences. Tool- and engineering-based metaphors were also highly rated for their everyday relevance and simplicity, while firefighting metaphors conveyed urgency effectively.
Interestingly, images of war and doomsday, commonly used to describe AMR as a battle, were largely rejected by expert communicators for oversimplifying complex processes and implying alarmism.
The study highlights the importance of tailoring messages to cultural, demographic, and local healthcare contexts, especially in low- and middle-income settings where sharing medicines or self-diagnosis may take place. Overall, the study provides a versatile toolkit for communicators, allowing messages to be selected or combined depending on the targeted aspect of AMR, alongside a replicable framework for co-designing context-specific communication.
The authors concluded that effective AMR communication has to face a double challenge: translating complex concepts into clear, understandable and tailored terms, while conveying the urgency of the AMR problem without inciting panic.
Reference
Global Alliance for Infections in Surgery 