MEMORANDUM

TO: Valerie Gray, Grace Mahaffey, Zo Schoonover

CC: Dr. Erik Mortenson, Senior Lecturer
FROM: Paige Stabler
DATE: February 16, 2017
SUBJECT: Antibiotic Resistance Civic Sector

Antibiotic resistance is a huge problem in America, especially in Detroit. The way to stop the

spread of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in Detroit is to educate the public about the issue. There

are two groups that are trying to teach people about antibiotic resistance. These groups are the

Michigan Antibiotic Resistance Reduction Coalition and ReAct. These organizations are leading

the fight in decline of antibacterial resistance on different levels of population. Both of the

groups have their advantages and disadvantages, but in the end, MARR has the potential to help

our cause the most.

MARR ADVANTAGES

The most important advantage to MARR is that it is at the local level. MARR is for all of

Michigan, but it is concentrated in southeast Michigan (Bailey). The locality of the non-profit

allows for more help within the city of Detroit; all of MARRs efforts and resources are focused

heavily on one area, instead of being spread out thin. Another asset of MARR is its variety of

educational programming. The most popular program is the Antibiotics and You program that

is designed for consumers of all ages to help them better understand antibiotics, the bacterial

resistance to the drug, and how to use the drugs properly (MARR). This curriculum can be

presented to many different groups of people, but the organization especially uses it to teach

elementary school students, in the hopes that the students will then talk to their parents about the

issue (Bailey). With about 85% of Detroits population having the education level of some

college or less (see Appendix for Figure #1 below), parents might not know enough about the
topic of antibiotic resistance to educate their children on it (U.S. Census Bureau). There is also a

curriculum that is geared towards high school students. The program is two class periods long

and is meant to be taught to the teenagers by their own teacher (Bailey). The final program that

MARR offers that is unique to this year deals with the dental side of antibiotic prescription since

dentists prescribe between 7% and 11% of all common antibiotics (Dar-Odeh). The program

informs both the dentists and the patients about antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance, so

that both the prescriber and the patient can learn about proper use of the drug (Bailey). The final

advantage of MARR is that it funded by a grant from the Center of Disease Control (Bailey).

This is a significant advantage because the CDC is a government agency, making MARR a

government-trusted organization.

MARR DISADVANTAGES

One of the drawbacks of MARR is with only two paid positions in the non-profit, MARR relies

on the help of volunteers (Bailey). Low volunteer turnout could mean loss of clients and loss of

respect for MARR. Another disadvantage to MARR is that while the program is free and ready

to use online, the high school curriculum is not working as well as the Antibiotics and You

course. This is because that the teachers are the presenters and they need to really know the

material to present it well (Bailey).

REACT ADVANTAGES

ReAct is an international group of experts that articulate the complex nature of antibiotic

resistance (About us ReAct). One advantage to ReAct is that it gets information from

different areas around the world. Using its Generating and Translating Evidence (GATE)

Program, ReAct translates scientific evidence to policy action on national, regional, and global

levels (We share information). People from across the globe can have access to vital research
on antibiotic resistance in any language. The other asset to ReAct is its ability to share data.

ReAct shares research on its website and through emailed newsletters. Plus, the organization also

has a Facebook and a Twitter page.

REACT DISADVANTAGES

A weakness of ReAct is that it is on an international level. Our group wants to help only Detroit

with antibiotic resistance education. With an organization that is focused on global help, it would

be hard for ReAct to focus a lot of time and resources in just one city. The other drawback of

ReAct is that it does not educate the public in a direct way. Unless a person is trying to find

information on research dealing with antibacterial resistance, ReAct is no help to them.

SUMMARY

The non-profits dicussed are on different scales--MARR being on the local level while ReAct is

on the international level. The Michigan Antibiotic Resistance Reduction Coalition has various

educational programs: one for all ages, one geared for high school students, and one about

dental-related prescriptions that applies to both dentists and patients. MARR is also funded by

the Center of Disease Control, which gives it credibility. The drawbacks to MARR is that it uses

volunteers to do a lot of the work and the high school program is not the best. ReAct is an

international group that translates research done to study antibiotic resistant bacteria and shares

that information on multiple platforms. The disadvantages of ReAct is that it is on the

international level, meaning that it would be hard for them to focus on just the city of Detroit,

which is what our group wants to do, and that it does not educate the public in a direct way. For

this project, MARR is an organization that could help our cause because of its level of influence

and its direct way of help to spread awareness on antibiotic resistance.

 Appendix

Figure #1: Shows Detroits populations minimum level of education.

All people who took part in the survey were 25 years or older (U.S.
Census Bureau).
 Works Cited

"About us ReAct." ReAct. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.

Bailey, Elaine. "Interview with Dr. Elaine Bailey." Telephone interview. 30 Jan. 2017.

Dar-Odeh, Najla Saeed, Osama Abdalla Abu-Hammad, Mahmoud Khaled Al-Omiri, Ameen

Sameh Khraisat, and Asem Ata Shehabi. "Antibiotic prescribing practices by dentists: a

review." Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management. Dove Medical Press, 2010. Web.

15 Feb. 2017.

"MARR Michigan Antibiotic Resistance Reduction Coalition." Educational Programs and

Resources | MARR. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.

U.S. Census Bureau (2015). American Community Survey 1-year estimates. Retrieved from

Census Reporter Profile Page for Detroit, MI. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.

U.S. Census Bureau (2015). American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Retrieved from

Census Reporter Profile Page for Detroit, MI. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.

"We share information ReAct." ReAct. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.