Whiteboard animation videos for increasing awareness about antimicrobial resistance, prudent antimicrobial prescribing, and urinary tract infection prevention

To the Editor—Bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged worldwide as one of the leading public health threats of the 21st century. Reference Murray, Ikuta and Sharara1 A 2016 review on antimicrobial resistance commissioned by the UK government estimated that global AMR deaths could reach 10 million people per year by 2050. Reference O’Neill2 Decreasing unnecessary antimicrobial use reduces the risk of antibiotic resistance but also reduces unnecessary side effects and cost; furthermore it helps maintain a healthy individual human microbiome. Reference Patangia, Anthony Ryan, Dempsey, Paul Ross and Stanton3 The West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership (WYHCP) AMR program aims to achieve at least a 10% reduction in antimicrobial resistance infections by 2024. Reference West and Michie4 Behavioral change by the general public is a key part of achieving this goal. The (C), opportunity (O), and motivation (M) as three key factors capable of changing behavior (B) (ie, COM-B) model of behavioral change conceptualizes how capabilities, opportunities and motivations combine to cause behavior. Reference West and Michie4 Using this model, we designed a study to help develop educational videos for the public—specifically, whiteboard animation videos. These animations are a visually engaging way of presenting complex information, including health topics. Whiteboard animations about healthcare have gained hundreds of millions of views, and there is evidence that they have improved patient understanding of a number of topics.