Fred Ssewamala awarded NIH Grant
Fred Ssewamala, Assistant Professor of Social Work, has been awarded a two-year NIH grant ($457,000) to expand an intervention called the SUUBI Program in Uganda.
The two primary aims of the SUUBI study are:
- to refine and test the feasibility of a family economic empowerment intervention that includes opportunities for asset-ownership, the development of anticipatory planning skills, the enhancement of mental health and reduction of risk taking behaviors for orphaned children in Uganda; and
- to examine the impact of this family economic empowerment intervention on the psychosocial outcomes of orphaned children. SUUBI is designed to advance existing strategies within Uganda that involve organizations providing aid primarily to meet the physical needs of orphaned children and their caregiving families. “SUUBI” is a word from a local language (Luganda) that is widely spoken in Uganda. It means “hope.”
Overall, the asset-ownership/family economic empowerment intervention proposed in the SUUBI study, if effective, can be adapted and used as a model in other African countries. It is an intervention strategy based on traditional African societal norms and moral and community ethics of children being raised by a family within a “village.”
October, 2005
– See more at: http://socialwork.columbia.edu/news-events/fred-ssewamala-awarded-nih-grant#sthash.amiEQ03V.dpuf