Stewardship implementation tools: winning projects
10.03.2025 - The StAR-3 project aims to offer a comprehensive handbook to support the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programmes in hospitals. To develop relevant implementation tools, a call for project proposals was conducted. Of the 22 projects submitted, seven receive financial support. The resulting implementation tools will be made available to hospitals as part of the comprehensive handbook at the end of 2026.
The Star-3 consortium aims to offer a comprehensive handbook to support the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programmes (ASPs) in hospitals. The first edition was published in November 2024 in German, French and Italian. This first edition provides a basic set of implementation tools; the future second edition of the handbook will provide a comprehensive collection of tools.
To develop suitable implementation tools, a call for project proposals was conducted. In particular, implementation tools for further education and training in prescribing antibiotics and auditing antibiotic prescribing were sought. Twenty-two projects were submitted by healthcare professionals at hospitals throughout Switzerland – including infectiologists, infection prevention and control experts, and hospital pharmacists.
The Star-3 consortium has selected seven projects. The resulting implementation tools will be suitable for large, medium-sized and small hospitals:
- A Guidelines Collaborative, HOCH Health Ostschweiz (Prof. Dr. med. Stefan Kuster)
- A Web-Based Educational Module for Prescribers to Improve Antibiotic Prescription Quality in Swiss Hospitals, University Hospital Berne (Dr. med. Yonas Martin)
- Mission Antibiotix: A National Gamified Approach to Antimicrobial Stewardship, CHUV (Dr. med. Estelle Ben Salah-Moulin, Dr. med. Margherita Plebani) and the Healthcare Establishments of the Canton de Vaud (Dr. med. Emmanouil Glampedakis)
- A Customizable Edutainment Video to promote Antimicrobial Stewardship, Institute for Implementation Science of the University of Zurich and University Hospital Zurich (PD Dr. med. Aline Wolfensberger)
- Optimizing Perioperative Antibiotic Prophylaxis Prescribing Practices – A Practical Toolkit, University Hospital Basel and St. Claraspital Basel (Dr. med. Anne-Valérie Burgener-Gasser, PhD)
- Improving Broad-Spectrum Antibiotics Use Via a CDSS and Multidisciplinary Interventions, Valais Hospital (Dr. med. Gaud Catho) and CHUV (Alma Feka, FPH)
- A Decision-Making Algorithm to Guide the Audit of Antimicrobial Prescriptions, CHUV (Dr. med. Estelle Ben Salah-Moulin)
The projects mentioned will receive average financial support of CHF 35,000, which is intended for the development of the implementation tools.
The new implementation tools will be published in the comprehensive handbook (second edition) and will be available to all hospitals in Switzerland from 2026.
The StAR-3 consortium recommends that hospitals start implementing an ASP. ASPs increase the effectiveness of treating infections, lower the risk of adverse effects and slow the emergence of resistant microorganisms. ASPs were shown to save lives and to be cost-effective: investments in local antimicrobial stewardship pay off [Source: OECD. Stemming the Superbug Tide: just a few dollars more. 2018. oe.cd/amr-2018]. Using the ASP handbook helps save staff hours and costs while implementing antimicrobial stewardship activities.
«StAR-3 project: Implementing ASP in Swiss Hospitals» is a three-year project that started in September 2023. It is supported by the FOPH as part of the Swiss Strategy on Antibiotic Resistance (StAR). H + Die Spitäler der Schweiz and the Swiss conference of the Cantonal Ministers of Public Health (GDK-CDS) are involved as observers.