Lifeline: Arts-based public engagement and antimicrobial resistance education for Master of Public Health students

This project used Lifeline, a musical theatre production on antimicrobial resistance staged at Southwark Playhouse Elephant, as an arts-based public engagement and educational activity for Master of Public Health students at the University of Hertfordshire.

The activity was organised by Dr Rasha Abdelsalam Elshenawy and Associate Professor Marvelle Brown as a structured extension of antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial stewardship teaching. Students attended the production on 2 May 2026 and engaged with antimicrobial resistance through theatre, patient narratives, historical storytelling, stewardship messages and multidisciplinary One Health themes.

The project aimed to translate antimicrobial resistance from an abstract scientific and public health concept into an emotionally resonant learning experience. It supported student awareness, stewardship understanding, professional identity, public health communication and reflection on the role of arts-based approaches in health education.

Outputs from the project included a public engagement report, student reflection evidence, visual communication materials, a conceptual framework linking Lifeline narrative elements to antimicrobial resistance learning and public health engagement outcomes, and developing academic outputs on theatre, narrative and antimicrobial resistance public engagement.

This project used a musical about antimicrobial resistance to help public health students understand why antibiotics must be protected. Students attended the production and reflected on how theatre, patient stories and music can make antimicrobial resistance easier to understand, more memorable and more meaningful for future public health practice.

The activity showed that arts-based public engagement can complement traditional antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial stewardship teaching by reaching emotional, motivational and professional learning domains. Student reflection evidence suggested that theatre helped make antimicrobial resistance more memorable, human and personally meaningful. The project also demonstrated the value of patient narratives, stewardship messages and One Health collaboration in public health education and communication.