Today, rational use of antibiotics is one the most important public health issues regarding both the control of communicable diseases and the control of increasing health expenditures around the World. The antibiotic consumption rate in Turkey is one of the highest among European countries. Studies show that international migrants from Turkey also show similar cultural characteristics, regarding the patterns of medicine use. Therefore, a multinational project aiming to increase rational use of antibiotics would benefit both Turkey and European countries with high number of migrants from Turkey, namely Germany, Netherlands and Sweden. This Project, which aims to increase rational use of antibiotics through adult education in Turkey and respective European countries, brings together the main stakeholders with respect to antibiotic consumption and targets both the public, who are at the demand side and health professionals, who are at the supply side of antibiotic consumption. The project has seven partners. Ankara SGK is the applicant of the project. Project partners are selected on the basis of their potential to support the outputs of the project and their level of information and experience on project objectives. Hacettepe University, Ankara Public Health Provincial Directorate and Ankara Chamber of Pharmacists are partners from Turkey. TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET CHEMNITZ is the partner from Germany, Maastricht University is the partner from Netherlands and Uppsalla University is the partner from Sweden. Activities to achieve project objectives will be as follows: -Management of administrative work (communication, meeting organizations etc.) -Focus groups discussions -In-depth interviews -IEC material development for the public (Web, booklet, poster, TV spot) -Quantitative pre-post evaluation -Informational material development for family physicians and pharmacists -Undergraduate training module development for pharmacy technicians in Turkey -Production of the main project report -Project meetings in Turkey, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden -Closing, evaluation and dissemination meeting in Turkey, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden Expected results that will be achieved from the project activities are: -Adult knowledge, attitudes and behaviours will be determined by stakeholder focus group discussions and in-depth interviews -Evidence Based and Culturally Appropriate Information, Education and Communication Materials will be developed for the public -Information, Education and Communication Strategy for the public will be developed -Information, Education and Communication Strategy for health professionals will be developed -Undergraduate training module will be developed for pharmacy technicians -Dissemination strategy will be developed
The project aimed to create awareness on the rational use of antibiotics among the adults living in Turkey and the adults migrated from Turkey in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden through adult education. Within the scope of the project, it was aimed to learn the opinions of the health care providers on the rational antibiotics usage of the adults in Turkey and the migrants in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. The project had seven partners. Ankara SGK is the applicant of the project. Project partners were selected on the basis of their potential to support the outputs of the project and their level of information and experience on project objectives. Hacettepe University, Ankara Public Health Provincial Directorate and Ankara Chamber of Pharmacists are partners from Turkey. Technische Universitaet Chemnitz is the partner from Germany, Maastricht University is the partner from Netherlands and Uppsala University is the partner from Sweden. The project coordinator is SGK Ankara Provincial Directorate. Ankara Provincial Health Directorate is responsible for the provision of primary care and preventive health services and to increase the knowledge of irrational antibiotic use of the family physicians working in the field. Ankara 2nd Regional Pharmacist Chamber, which is responsible for reaching pharmacists to increase their knowledge of irrational antibiotic use in the community. Hacettepe University Public Health Institute which provides technical support for scientific researches and trainings conducted in the project, Ankara Provincial Health Directorate and Ankara 2nd Regional Pharmacist Chamber worked in cooperation with them. The project was finally achieved results appeared to strengthen interventions for rational use of antibiotics in Turkey. It was also aimed to increase the knowledge of the immigrants from Turkey on rational antibiotic use through adult education interventions in Germany, Netherlands and Sweden, which are the countries with a higher concentration of immigrants from Turkey. In this way the project evidence-based information, education and communication strategies using living in Europe, rational antibiotic use among immigrants from Turkey were developed with international cooperation. It was also aimed at reaching sight and hearing impairments during the project and special material production and distribution is provided so that the developed education and information material can be delivered to the disabled. Project Activities Within the scope of the project, 6 Intellectual Outputs, 6 Dissemination events, 4 Transnational Project Meetings, Opening and Closing Ceremony Organizations were successfully completed with the participation of all project partners. At the first step of the project, knowledge, attitudes and behaviors about antibiotic use of the community and approaches of health care providers to rational antibiotics were evaluated with qualitative research tecqniques in all countries. The knowledge and the behaviors of rational antibiotic use of the immigrants from Turkey were collected by using the same method. Within the scope of the project, it was aimed to learn the opinions of the health care providers about the antibiotics usage in the community. Based on the results of the research, knowledge-based and culturally appropriate information, education and communication materials were developed. Written and visual materials (eg brochures, booklets, posters and web page) were developed in different languages (Turkish, English, German, Swedish, and Dutch). TV spots for national TV channels in Turkey about the rational use of antibiotics were prepared in Turkish and sign language. Within the scope of the project, Braille Alphabet was developed for the visually impaired and informational materials were developed for the hearing impaired using the sign language. The training module for pharmacy technicians, who play an important role in informing the public about rational antibiotic use, was developed in the project. The family physicians and pharmacist were also trained about the project, the project activities and rational antibiotic use. Significant Results of the Project - The project also developed information-training and communication materials for health care providers and training modules for pharmacy technicians. - The project partner was held with the participation of interested parties for dissemination in each country, and materials developed for the public and health workers at the national level were disseminated. - Qualitative researches were carried out to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the developed project materials. - European countries in the project is to create awareness on the rational use of antibiotics in the immigrants from Turkey and the health care providers giving health services to the immigrants in the community.