Professional and Public Engagement, Education and Training Activities (ESPAUR Report 2024-2025)

Abstract Background Public engagement and education, and professional education are two of the nine outcomes outlined in the UK 5-year National Action Plan (NAP) for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from 2024 to 2029. The implementation of effective strategies in these areas can help to facilitate impactful behaviour change around AMR.1,2 This abstract outlines a range of initiatives undertaken during the 2024 and 2025 financial year. Professional Education and Training The TARGET programme continued its successful webinar series with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) for primary care clinicians, delivering three webinars covering antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) topics.3 Each webinar received high engagement and positive feedback from attendees. The national rollout of TARGET AMS training reached over 1,000 primary care professionals across England. Evaluation findings showed significant improvement of attendees’ knowledge, confidence, and intentions to implement AMS actions (Figure 1), as well as a reduction in antibiotic prescribing.Figure 1.Healthcare professionals’ agreement to AMR statements before (n=926) and after TARGET training (n=656). Professional Engagement England’s annual campaign for World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) and European Antibiotic Awareness Day comprised a toolkit of promotional resources aiming to increase public and professional awareness of AMR. The toolkit website was visited over 4,000 times during the campaign period (September to December 2024) and a webinar to launch the campaign attracted almost 1,000 registrations. Healthcare professionals found the campaign effective, and awareness of the campaign was correlated with better knowledge of antimicrobial use and resistance (z = -4.948, p