Optimising the Design and Delivery of Audit and Feedback to Improve Antibiotic Prescribing Behaviour in Hospital

This project is offered as part of the Medical Research Foundation National PhD Training Programme in AMR: https://www.findaphd.com/search/PhDDetails.aspx?CAID=3755

There is a major national and international drive to improve the quality of antibiotic prescribing as part of efforts to reduce antimicrobial resistance. Auditing antibiotic prescribing and providing feedback (A&F) to prescribers can improve behaviour, but the effects are modest and highly variable. There is therefore a need for new research to optimise the design and delivery of clinical A&F. The aim of this project is to develop and evaluate different ways of designing and delivering A&F, drawing on behavioural theory and working with designers. The student will undertake a systematic review followed by fieldwork at University College London Hospital (UCLH) to evaluate the evidence and understand how A&F currently takes place (data systems, how feedback is delivered to practitioners). This will include identification of barriers and enablers to responding to feedback and implementing practice change. Finally, the student will work with designers to develop and evaluate different ways of displaying, delivering and responding to performance feedback (apps, clinical dashboard). This project may appeal to those with cross-disciplinary interests in behaviour change, healthcare quality improvement, data science and intervention design. The student will be based at the UCL Centre for Behaviour Change and at the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art. The successful candidate will also be enrolled in the ESRC UCL Bloomsbury and East London Doctoral Training Partnership (https://ubel-dtp.ac.uk) which will provide additional training opportunities and local student cohort activities.

Apply here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/research/degrees/health-informatics-multiprofessional-education-mphil-phd

To apply you need to select “Clinical Educational Health Psychology” as the Department and “Postgraduate Research” as the Programme Type. You can then complete your application form (Programme code RRDPLSSCEH01). Please enter Prof. Susan Michie in the “Name of proposed supervisor field”. When you reach the “Funding section - How will you be financing your studies at UCL?” Please tick the box marked Studentship/Scholarship and write “AMR PhD Studentship administered by Bristol” in the other (specify) text box. In your supporting statement please make it clear which of the three UCL AMR studentships you wish to apply for and why.