Making microbes matter: evidence for the use of digital storytelling in antimicrobial resistance public engagement

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global health threat, yet public engagement remains limited because AMR is often perceived as distant and abstract. Digital storytelling (DST) may offer a more accessible approach by situating AMR within lived experience. In this qualitative study, eight members of the public participated in a facilitated screening discussion of five digital stories (short videos created by people depicting their experiences of resistant infection and antibiotic-related harm). Analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, three themes were generated from the data. First, DST made AMR visible, personal, and emotionally grounded through lived experience rather than information alone. Second, engagement was shaped by storytelling devices including metaphor, imagery, voice, and framing. Third, viewers interpreted stories through pre-existing beliefs, social norms, and personal experience. As an exploratory outcome, mapping themes to a behaviour change model suggested DST engagement may influence determinants of behaviour change including social opportunity, psychological capability, and reflective and automatic motivation.