The SMARTER research group receives funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research to develop and assess utility of a digital dashboard for surveillance of antimicrobial use in Nova Scotia

Antimicrobial resistance is a global threat. Antibiotic use leads to the development of antimicrobial resistance. Surveillance of antibiotic use is reported nationally however, there continues to be a need for improvement in surveillance in Canada. The goal of this study is to develop a communication intervention to address antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance. The specific objectives of this study are to: develop, implement, and evaluate a provincial dashboard for reporting of antibiotic use in the community setting, determine prescriber preferences for visualization of individual-level antibiotic prescribing data, and assess perceived value of a digital dashboard in supporting appropriate antibiotic prescribing. A digital dashboard will be developed in Nova Scotia to disseminate data on antibiotic use in the community setting. The dashboard will be developed for use by healthcare providers, decision makers, and the public. Stakeholders will be invited to provide feedback on the dashboard. De-identified, aggregate data on antibiotics dispensed from community pharmacies in Nova Scotia will be reported publicly on the dashboard. A process for dissemination of individual feedback on antibiotic prescribing will also be piloted in a sample of 20-30 primary care physicians. Participating prescribers will be provided with their own individual data on antibiotic prescribing with peer comparison and feedback accessible to the prescriber through a confidential individual login. We will perform a mixed-method usability evaluation of the final version of the dashboard. We will recruit stakeholders who are not involved in the co-design of the dashboard to provide feedback. Access to the dashboard will also be assessed to determine how frequent the dashboard is utilized. Perceived value of the dashboard will be assessed qualitatively using interviews with prescribers to determine what influence, if any, the dashboard had on antibiotic prescribing.

The Council of Canadian Academies Expert Panel on Antimicrobial Availability publishes their report “Overcoming Resistance”. 

Resistant bacterial infections kill an estimated 1.27 million people every year. In 2018, about one million bacterial infections were reported in Canada, a quarter of which were resistant to first-line treatments. Resistant infections were responsible for more than 14,000 deaths at a cost to the healthcare system of more than $2 billion

Recent student awards

Erin Ring, post-graduate pharmacy resident at IWK Health was awarded the Canadian Society of Pharmacists, Nova Scotia Branch Residency Award for her residency manuscript titled “Evaluating Barriers and Facilitators to Delivery of Hospital Pharmacy Services to Women, Children, and their Families during a Pandemic.”

Gemma MacDonald, undergraduate pharmacy student at Dalhousie University was awarded the Association of Faculties of Pharmacy in Canada /Council for continuing pharmaceutical education pharmacy student research poster award for her abstract titled “Systematic review of antimicrobial stewardship interventions to improve management of bacteriuria in hospitalized adults.”

Dr. Emily Black was awarded the 2022 Faculty of Health Early Career award for Research Excellence

Dr. Emily Black was awarded the 2022 Faculty of Health Early Career award for Research Excellence presented annually to a recipient to recognize outstanding research that leads to significant progress in the understanding and/or management of a health-related problem.

Dr. Emily Black was appointed to the Council of Canadian Academies expert panel in Pull incentives for High-Value Antimicrobials Read More

Shoppers Drug Mart donates $2.5 million to Dalhousie for diversity in health education, research

Dr. Emily Black and her team were awarded funds from the Canadian Institute of Health Research to develop and assess utility of a digital dashboard for reporting of antibiotic use in Nova Scotia.