Engaging Consumers in Antimicrobial Stewardship
Sarah Herd1
1 Pharmacy Department, Launceston General Hospital, Tasmanian Heath Service
Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs and strategies are well embedded into healthcare delivery in Australia. The elements of AMS programs are recognised for health service management and for clinicians. But how well do we engage with consumers in contemporary AMS programs?
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care Preventing and Controlling Infection Standard details an action for partnering with consumers and the AMS Clinical Care standard states that ‘a patient with an infection, or at risk of an infection, is provided with information about their condition and treatment options in a way that they can understand’.
This presentation will describe the reflective journey that our healthcare service took after receiving feedback from an accreditation process. This has resulted in several initiatives to increase consumer engagement in antimicrobial stewardship.