Using participatory video to generate active agents of change at community level to address the drivers of antimicrobial resistance in two settings in Nepal

TL;DR

This paper explores how participatory video empowers communities in Nepal to address antimicrobial resistance by creating local champions for change.

Contribution

The study introduces participatory video as a novel method to generate community agents of change for tackling antimicrobial resistance.

Findings

Participants developed personal and community-level skills to address AMR through video production.

PV helped participants gain visibility and influence among policymakers and their communities.

The quality of the videos impressed stakeholders and increased attention to AMR issues.

Abstract

We present a community-based videomaking project that used Participatory Video (PV) to co-produce community-led resources to address the issue of antimicrobial resistance in Nepal. Specifically, this paper highlights the potential of PV as a way of generating community champions that can become active ‘agents of change’.

A total of 20 participants took part in PV workshops in Nepal across two settings; one urban and one peri-urban site. Participants were trained in video production and took part in interactive learning sessions on AMR. Participants were supported to create and showcase their own videos on AMR in their community. All workshops were recorded and a series of focus group discussions and interviews were undertaken to evaluate the project.

Participants considered PV to be a positive experience, both in terms of personal development and their ability to understand and address community-level drivers of AMR. They emphasised how the project helped them to become proactive in addressing AMR and also to be ‘seen’ by policy makers and other members of their community who they did not feel would generally take notice of them. Conversely, policymakers, as well as other members of the participants’ communities, were impressed by the quality of the work produced, which, in turn, made them pay attention to the messages communicated in the videos.

CARAN highlights the potential of PV as a way of creating community-level champions to help address the drivers of AMR. More work is required to understand the longer-term value of creating such champions.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-024-21181-6.

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