Overview of Week 4

Hello and welcome to Week 4. We hope you enjoy this week of discussions, remember to introduce yourself, and take part by commenting at the bottom of each section.

This week Dr Nick Francis explores managing patient expectations and will take us through examples of patient interactions using mock patient scenarios. Professor Paul Little will then present data on the benefit of antibiotics for uncomplicated infections and the benefit of back-up/delayed antibiotics in daily clinician practice.

Dr Nick Francis is a clinician in South Wales and leads the infections and antimicrobial resistance research programme in the Division of Population Medicine at Cardiff University. His main research interests include the management of infections and antimicrobial stewardship in primary care. His work using interactive booklets for the management of respiratory tract infections in primary care, has led to further research involving patient information and communication strategies.

Professor Paul Little has been a clinician for 20 years and is Professor of Primary Care Research at the University of Southampton. His major research interests are in facilitating self-help and behaviour change for both acute and chronic conditions, the management of infections (including antibiotic use, antibiotic prescribing strategies, and antimicrobial resistance), patient-centred consulting, and the investigation of complementary approaches.