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Shenton, Anthony (2023) Contributing to the ‘One Health’ framework by exploring the emerging environmental dimensions of antimicrobial resistance from a human geography perspective. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.

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Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of greatest threats to humanity. Some social science research on AMR has focused on the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in hospital and agricultural environments. However, little research has been carried out to explore how ‘environmental publics’ (Eden, 2017) make sense of the emerging environmental dimensions of AMR and how scientists imagine lay publics in relation to those emerging environmental dimensions. Without this information, AMR ‘action plans’ risk failure when put into practice.

This research project addresses this major gap in the existing research by observing and carrying out semi-structured interviews with surfers and open-water swimmers - two of the communities most at risk from AMR in the environment due to being immersed in rivers, lakes and coastal waters - and with scientists working on the emerging environmental dimensions of AMR. This empirical research found that although it was common for scientists to assert that lay publics could participate in research on the environmental dimensions of AMR, it was also common for them to discuss ‘lay publics’ imagined lack of knowledge about the relevant issues. This position supports the view that the ‘deficit model’ of the public understanding of science (PUS) (Wynne, 1992) continues to persist. However, it has been strongly challenged by social science research that shows that lay publics are not blank slates that need be filled with scientific knowledge. On the contrary, lay publics possess pre-existing knowledge, values and beliefs that intersect with science. My findings also reveal that both surfers and open-water swimmers draw upon their pre-existing knowledge, values and beliefs about health, healthcare, environmental pollution and globalisation to make sense of the emerging environmental dimensions of AMR and they can use this knowledge to participate in debates about what the issues are and how they should be addressed. In contrast to scientists, they focused more on the structural causes of AMR rather than individuals. Much of the knowledge participants use to make sense of environmental risks, including those related to AMR, is gained from sensory experience as they carried out their swimming and surfing activities. The joy they gained from being in the water outweighed the risks. Public participation mechanisms need to move more ‘upstream’ so that ‘lay’ and ‘expert’ publics can engage in genuine dialogues with each other about AMR in the environment. This will enable lay publics to not only contribute to the environmental dimensions of AMR, but also help to define and redefine them. These findings could make a valuable contribution to the ‘One Health’ framework that calls for diverse disciplines to work together to tackle issues connected to the health of humans, animals and the environment, including AMR (WHO, 2017).

Item Type:	Thesis (University of Nottingham only) (PhD)
Supervisors:	Smallman-Raynor, Matthew Morris, Carol Davies, Thom
Keywords:	human health, environment, antimicrobial resistance
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography Q Science > QR Microbiology
Faculties/Schools:	UK Campuses > Faculty of Social Sciences, Law and Education > School of Geography
Item ID:	74373
Depositing User:	Shenton, Anthony
Date Deposited:	25 Jun 2024 10:08
Last Modified:	25 Jun 2024 10:08
URI:	https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/74373

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