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AMR and AR: Antimicrobial Resistance and Augmented Reality

Analysis 2021: "Making sense of 'superbugs' on YouTube: A storytelling approach"

(The whole paper is fascinating, but if you only have time for an executive summary, here it is!)

"Making sense of 'superbugs' on YouTube: A storytelling approach" (open-access PDF) by Monika Djerf-Pierre and Mia Lindgren, Public Understanding of Science (2021).

Key points:

"This article explores how antimicrobial resistance is communicated on YouTube. Drawing on qualitative media analyses of the most viewed YouTube videos 2016–2020, we identify seven different genres and two main storytelling approaches, personalized and fictionalized storytelling, used to make sense of antimicrobial resistance and its complexities.

The study contributes new knowledge about YouTube as a platform for health communication and the types of videos about antimicrobial resistance that get most traffic. This is useful, not the least for public health experts working to improve communication strategies that target hard-to-reach media publics...."

The study identifies seven genres used to communicate AMR on YouTube:

Popular Science,
Journalism,
YouTuber,
Curriculum Resources,
Medical Entertainment,
Public Health Campaigns, and
Advertising.…

In the vast majority of the most viewed videos, the communicative purpose is to

educate (Popular Science),
inform (Journalism), or
instruct the public (Public Health Campaigns).

In the other samples, the aims and purposes are to

sell education (Curriculum Resources), to
entertain (Medical Entertainment, some YouTubers),
advocacy (some YouTubers), or to
sell products (Advertising)....

Two main storytelling approaches are used to translate a complex health issue into something that YouTube viewers can relate to and understand.

The first, fictionalized storytelling, is commonly applied in Popular Science videos but also in Public Health Campaigns and Advertising. It draws on familiar narrative elements from videogames, cartoons, and superhero and monster movies, such as anthropomorphizing bacteria with human appearances, intentions, and behaviors, and staging AMR as a battle between humans/antibiotics and cunning superbugs.

The second, personalized storytelling, is mainly demonstrated in the journalism genre. Here we find stories with real-life humans as actors sharing their lived experiences, particularly as victims or survivors of resistant bacteria, but also journalists staged as actors in their own story."

Full article PDF available here.

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Contents of this tag:
6. Vaxcards 2016 (cartoon disease characters): A Game of Infectious Disease and Fun Battle friends with grotesque, lovable, collectable diseases in the world's first immunization card game!Battle friends with grotesque, lovable, collectable diseases in the world's first immunization card game!Battle friends with grotesque, lovable, collectable diseases in the world's first immunization card game!Battle friends with grotesque, lovable, collectable diseases in the world's first immunization card game!Battle friends with grotesque, lovable, collectable diseases in the world's first immunization card game!
9. US animated explainer 2018: "Antibiotics vs. Bacteria: Fighting the Resistance" 5 min 48 sec. MedlinePlus, United States National Institutes of Health, Mar 14, 2018 "How do we stay safe from the growing epidemic of antibiotic resistant bacteria? NIAID is researching ways to keep us safe…. Chapters: 0:38 Antimicrobial resistance epidemiology. 1:02 Examples of resistant bacteria. 1:11 Tuberculosis. 1:31 Gonorrhea. 1:46 MRSA. 2:13 How does antimicrobial resistance occur? 3:25 What can you do to fight antimicrobial resistance? 4:32 Research at NIAID."
10. The Lancet 2024: WHO Task Force of AMR Survivors – personal stories
12. Singapore comic 2022: "The Antibiotic Tales"
18. Cambodia youth-led creativity 2024: "Breaking behavioural barriers: Fighting antibiotic misuse" Applying the principles and practices of the Communication for Health (C4H) approach, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a pilot campaign targeted at university students and youth in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh. Running for two weeks in December 2023, the campaign, both online and offline, employed humour and behavioural insights and resulted in more than a 30% increase in knowledge around the responsible use of antibiotics.
20. Spain PSA 2020 (hairbrush): "Antibiotics CANNOT be used for everything" Agencia Española de Medicamentos y Productos Sanitarios (AEMPS), Nov 17, 2020. "Things should be used for what they’re meant to be used for, and if not, they may hurt you. Antibiotics treat infections caused by bacteria; they do NOT cure viruses like the flu or colds, or relieve pain or fever. To make sure they keep working, only use them with a prescription. Both in humans and in animals. Because NO, antibiotics CANNOT be used for everything. Government of Spain."
23. Spain PSA 2023 (bodyguards): "Antibiotics: Their job is to protect us. Your job is to use them wisely." Agencia Española de Medicamentos y Productos Sanitarios (AEMPS), Nov 3, 2023. "They are specialists. And their job is to protect us. But if we ask them to do things they're not intended to do, they won’t be able to protect us when we need them, and we end up putting the health of people, animals and the environment at risk. Antibiotics: Their job is to protect us. Your job is to use them wisely. Government of Spain."
25. Global AMR Diary 2024: Collective storytelling to shift perspectives and shape policy
27. Image Comics 2017: "Surgeon X" trailer https://surgeonx.co.uk/ From writer Sara Kenney and artist John Watkiss, published by Image Comics. Set against the backdrop of an antibiotic apocalypse in near future London, Rosa Scott, a brilliant and obsessive surgeon becomes Surgeon X, a vigilante doctor who uses experimental surgery and black market drugs to treat patients. Surgeon X risks everything to save lives, but ultimately ends up warping her medical oath to suit her own decisions.
30. Singapore PSA 2018 (boxing ring): "Are your antibiotics in the wrong fight?”
33. Data Visualization 2014: "The Antibiotic Abacus," Information Is Beautiful
36. Quadripartite Working Group on Youth Engagement for AMR
38. UK explainer 2021: "Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) - What does it mean and why it matters" 4 min 31 sec. UK Health Security Agency, Nov 19, 2021. "In this video explainer, Dr Diane Ashiru-Oredope PhD, Pharmacist Lead for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and Stewardship and HCAI at the UK Health Security Agency, explains what AMR means and why it matters. What role do these microbes have on our planet? How do antimicrobials work? What are the origins of antimicrobial resistance and more importantly, what can you do to help reduce it? Chapters: 00:00 What are microbes? 00:35 Antimicrobials. 01:30 What is AMR? 03:02 How to reduce AMR"
44. Canada personal story 2019: "Keep antibiotics working: A patient’s perspective"
45. UN animated explainer 2019 : "Antimicrobial Resistance Video - Asia and the Pacific Region (FAO, OIE, WHO, UNEP)"
46. Singapore PSA 2019 (singing pill): "I’m not the one you need (to recover faster)" Singapore’s Health Promotion Board (HPB), Nov 3, 2019. "[Music] I know you're down with the flu, and your work is piling up now. But trust me, I'm not the one. I'm not the one for you. I'm not the one you need to recover faster…. Everytime she goes 'achoo' and you want her to be well, now. But trust me, I'm not the one. [refrain] I know that cough annoys you, and I really want to help you, but I have no clue. [Refrain] [End music] Antibiotics will not help you recover faster from the flu, because they don't work on the flu virus. Check with your doctor on the treatment you need."
50. Singapore PSA 2018 (working late): "Antibiotics just don’t work on the flu virus."
51. Center for Accountability in Science PSA 2016 (green monster): "Fighting Antibiotic Resistance"
52. Singapore PSA 2022: "Don’t Play Doctor!" Singapore’s Health Promotion Board (HPB), Dec 15, 2022. "Actually, my strep throat doesn't hurt anymore. I'll just take one pill instead of two. Are you a doctor? Well, I feel better now. Misusing antibiotics can cause longer recovery time, and ineffective future treatments due to infections becoming antibiotic resistant. Remember, don't play doctor. Your friend, eh? Whoa, I need to share this."
61. Amoeba Sisters explainer 2018: "Antibiotics, Antivirals, and Vaccines"
62. SciShow explainer 2023: "Antibiotic Resistance is SO COMPLICATED"
63. BBC StoryWorks documentary 2023: "Race Against Resistance: The Life And Death Struggle To Save Antibiotics" 36 min 4 sec. BBC StoryWorks, Sep 5, 2023. "From Tori, a college gymnast, who faced a once curable infection that escalated into a life-threatening crisis, to Kerry, battling relentless superbugs with numerous antibiotics after what seemed like a simple ear infection. Their experiences are not isolated incidents, as resistance to ordinary antibiotics is rising. Antimicrobial resistance is rapidly becoming one of the most severe global health crises, causing great concern throughout the scientific and medical communities. This documentary-style film sheds light on the alarming reality of this ticking time bomb and the efforts of doctors, scientists, and experts who are relentlessly working to safeguard the health and well-being of generations to come through ground-breaking research and innovative solutions."
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Making sense of superbugs on YouTube - Genres