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The e-Bug project in France
Pia Touboul1, Brigitte Dunais, Jeanne-Marie Urcun
1Department of Public Health, Nice University Hospital, Archet 1 Hospital, Nice, France. touboul.p@chu-nice.fr
Insights
France joined the European e-Bug project to combat antibiotic resistance by educating children on infection prevention. The project successfully engaged teachers and students, leading to widespread adoption of educational resources.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Infectious Disease Prevention
- Educational Science
Background:
- High rates of antibiotic prescriptions and antimicrobial resistance in France.
- Need for early education on infection transmission and treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To implement the European e-Bug project in France.
- To raise awareness among children about microbes, infection transmission, prevention, and treatment.
- To foster suitable attitudes and behaviors towards infection control from childhood.
Main Methods:
- Adaptation of e-Bug educational materials to the French national science curricula.
- Focus group study with teachers to identify resource needs.
- Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the adapted resources.
- National institutional implementation plan launched in September 2009.
Main Results:
- Enthusiastic support from national educational and health institutions.
- Successful integration into junior and senior school science curricula.
- Positive reception and ease of use reported by teachers and students.
- Rapid increase in orders for e-Bug tools, with high adoption rates among senior science teachers.
- France became a frequent user of the e-Bug website.
Conclusions:
- The e-Bug project was successfully implemented in France through collaboration between educational and health partners.
- The project effectively engaged teachers and students, contributing to infection prevention education.
- The resources were well-received and adapted to meet educational needs, showing significant uptake.
Abstract:
The high rates of antibiotic prescriptions and antimicrobial resistance in France motivated its participation in the European e-Bug school project concerning microbes, and infection transmission, prevention and treatment. The prospect of raising awareness among children, helping them to adopt suitable attitudes and behaviour towards infection transmission and treatment starting from childhood, generated enthusiastic support from relevant national educational and health institutions throughout the Project. France was actively involved in every stage: background research showed that the subject matter was best suited to the national science curricula of the fourth and fifth forms in junior schools, and the sixth and ninth forms in senior schools; a focus group study with junior and senior teachers elicited teachers' needs concerning teaching resources; and a qualitative and quantitative evaluation, after translation and pack review, enabled further adaptation of the packs. This evaluation showed an overall enthusiastic reception by teachers and their students in France, and reassured teachers on the ease of use of the Project's resources and students' progress. The e-Bug Project was launched through a national institutional implementation plan in September 2009 and orders for e-Bug tools increased rapidly. By the end of October, 57% of all senior science teachers and 16% of all junior school teachers had ordered the pack. France is one of the most frequent users of the e-Bug web site. The collaboration with both educational and health partners was particularly helpful to implementing the Project, and this was confirmed by the favourable reception and participation of teachers and students in the field.
