Hallsworth et al., 2016: Providing feedback about high prescription rates reduced prescriptions for antibiotics among general practioners over six months
Reference:
Hallsworth, M., Chadborn, T., Sallis, A., Sanders, M., Berry, D., Greaves, F., ... & Davies, S. C. (2016). Provision of social norm feedback to high prescribers of antibiotics in general practice: a pragmatic national randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, 387(10029), 1743-1752.
Download PDFSummary:
A letter from England’s Chief Medical Officer informing General Practitioners that prescribed antibiotics at a higher rate than 80% of the practices in their area that they did so and suggesting ways to reduce unnecessary prescriptions reduced prescriptions for antibiotics over the next 6 months (during flu season) from 131.25 to 126.98 per 1000 people. Across the 1581 practices randomized to condition, the treatment was estimated to reduce the number of antibiotic prescriptions by 73,406, a savings of £92,356 in direct prescription costs.
Psychological Process:
Need
Need to BelongWhat Desired Meaning is At Stake?
What is the Person Trying to Understand?
To Feel Connected, Included, Respected, and Valued by OthersApproach to Desired Meaning
What about it?
Link Belonging to a Behavior or Attitude to Motivate Positive ChangeHow?
Psychological Question Addressed
What is typical or valued in my social community?What is typical or valued in my social community?Changing beliefs about social norms to motivate positive behaviorsPsychological Question Addressed
What is typical or valued in my social community?Psychological Process 2:
Psychological Process 3:
Social Area:
Health
Intervention Technique:
Direct labeling, of social norms