TALKING SUPERBUGS: RISK, TRUST, AND ACTION ON ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

The resistance of common infections to antibiotics and other drugs (the “superbugs” crisis) has jeopardized health across the globe. This exploratory study examines patients’ trust in expert knowledge and study the enactment of advice regarding antimicrobial drugs in everyday life. As framed by Giddens’ (1989; 1990) theory of risk, trust, and security, the study comprises face-to-face interviews of 4 health providers and 20 patients at three community health centers in Alabama, a state with among the highest rates of antibiotic prescribing and usage in the country. The study will identify what patients know about superbugs, sources of information about the “superbugs” crisis, levels of trust in the medical advice they receive, and any mitigating actions for self or families. The findings of the study will bring the sociological imagination to bear on the private trouble/public issue dialectic around antibiotic resistance in southern U.S. context.