Storytelling and AMR: Utilising the CARAN manual in a High Income setting
Following the 2017-19 Community Arts against Antibiotic Resistance project in Nepal, the CARAN manual is available on the CE4AMR website for open access use. It details how to utilise participatory video making within an LMIC community setting to explore the issue of antimicrobial resistance. As we have seen through a recent blog by Max Nawrath, CARAN can be applied to other topics such as public perceptions of nature. We are really keen to hear from anyone who is currently, or planning to, use the manual. We recently spoke to PhD researcher Becky McCall at University College London on how she plans to use the manual in her UK-based research on public awareness of AMR.
Becky’s background is in medical journalism with over 14 years of experience and a broad interest in public health. Her PhD holds the working title of Storytelling to communicate concept of AMR to general public which initially attracted Becky due to the combination of journalistic skills, via storytelling, plus a key area of public health in AMR. She successfully interviewed for the position and is now working on the project part-time alongside her journalistic career and family life with her partner and two children.
Becky’s community research will firstly use focus groups to understand people’s perceptions on antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance in the UK. Her key study communities are parents with children under the age of 5, as these individuals frequently visit the GP for support with childhood infections, and people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) whose respiratory condition means they are more prone to infection but also more likely to receive antibiotics as prophylaxis. Narratives from focus groups will then be discussed in relation to AMR and crafted into digital stories, by participants, to share with the wider public and hopefully challenge antibiotic misuse and overuse within these communities.
Due to the onset of COVID-19 Becky is still in the planning and research stage of her project and is considering running some of her focus groups online. She is focusing on finding ways to communicate nuances around public perceptions on AMR through storytelling. Her main research questions focus on what is the best way to run a storytelling workshop? She is considering both the methods she may employ, and looking at the component parts of storytelling, the performance, methods of engagement and developing the contract between storyteller and listener.
This is where the CARAN manual comes in. Although the manual was designed with LMIC projects in mind, Becky feels that the scope of the manual and methods of engagement it describes will equally support a UK-based project particularly in terms of connecting participants to the topic of AMR, relaxing them into group work, and increasing their confidence to develop AMR-based stories. Becky predicts that certain activities may not be required in the high-income country setting, however she is well-prepared for other challenges to appear during her research which may support additions to the manual in the future.
Why storytelling? Becky is passionate about the use of creative approaches to understand public knowledge, attitudes and opinion on health issues such as AMR. As she says, certain things just cannot be captured with a survey or interview due to the fixed nature of the questions. The process of storytelling and the technical aspect of producing a digital story will allow memories to be uncovered in an organic way as participants discuss their work. Storytelling is thus hoped to provide a deeper and clearer understanding of antibiotic use in the two specific UK communities. Becky is also conscious of the need to capture the cultural identity of the communities she works with so that an relatable contract can develop between storyteller and audience. All these aspects really chime with the scope of the CARAN manual and we are really looking forward to seeing how Becky utilises it within her UK-based research. We will be catching up with her at regular intervals over the next year and are excited to see the progress of her project.
If you have or are planning to use the CARAN manual in your research we would love to hear from you, please contact Jess (j.mitchell1@leeds.ac.uk) to arrange a chat.
Written by Jess Mitchell. The views and opinions expressed in this article are that of the author and interviewee, they do not represent an institutional stance on any of the topics discussed.