Education as a mediating interface in global health: A conceptual synthesis of antimicrobial resistance education

Often recognised as a determinant of health and key to health communication, education is an underdeveloped concept in global health. This paper develops a conceptual understanding of how educational processes shape engagement with global health challenges, particularly their role in promoting health equity, capability and sustainability. Using antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as an illustrative case, the paper examines how education shapes understandings of health challenges, supports capability development and enables engagement with health governance. Methodologically, the paper adopts an interpretive conceptual synthesis, drawing on an author-led corpus of peer-reviewed papers on AMR education. Guided by frameworks on social determinants of health, health capability and 'wicked' problems, an iterative analysis identifies cross-paper patterns in how education mediates meaning-making, situated capability development and engagement with health governance. A conceptual framework is developed comprising three interrelated contributions: (1) education shapes how global health challenges are understood, valued and problematised, (2) education enables development of capability for situated health action and (3) education constitutes a site for engagement with global health governance. Expected outcomes encompass education as a mediating interface shaping how global health challenges are understood, critically evaluated and addressed, which can inform future research on ways to address global health challenges, including AMR.