Principal Investigator: Mary McKay, PhD; Fred M. Ssewamala, PhD
Study Team: Ozge Sensoy Bahar, PhD; Apollo Kivumbi, MBChB, MPH
Field Coordinators: Joshua Kiyingi, MSTAT; Josephine Nabayinda, MSC; Phionah Namatovu
Research Collaborators: Abel Mwebembezi, PhD (Reach the Youth-Uganda); Fr. Kato Bakulu of Masaka Diocese
SMART Africa-Uganda is part of the SMART (Strengthening Mental health and Research Training) Africa Center, a 5-year multi-country longitudinal study (2016-2021) funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). SMART Africa is a global transdisciplinary center focused on reducing child mental health service and research gaps in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. SMART Africa-Uganda is a major scale-up study that examines the impact and implementation of an evidence-based multiple family group intervention for children experiencing behavioral problems and their families in Uganda. ICHAD research team is co-leading this scale-up study with 3,000 children (ages 8 to 13) and their families across 30 schools in the Greater Masaka region of Uganda.
Tozan, Y., Capasso, A., Namatovu, P., Kiyingi, J., Damulira, C., Nabayinda, J., Bahar, O. S., McKay, M. M., Hoagwood, K., & Ssewamala, F. M. (2022). Costing of a multiple family group strengthening intervention (Smart-Africa) to improve child and Adolescent Behavioral Health in Uganda. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.21-0895
Asampong, E., Ibrahim, A., Sensoy-Bahar, O., Kumbelim, K., Yaro, P. B., McKay, M. M., & Ssewamala, F. M. (2021). Adaptation and implementation of the multiple-family group intervention in Ghana. Psychiatric Service. Psychiatry Online.
Brathwaite, R., Ssewamala, F. M., Sensoy Bahar, O., McKay, M. M.,…& SMART Africa –Uganda Field Team (2021, online first). The longitudinal impact of an evidence-based multiple family group intervention (Amaka Amasanyufu) on Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Impaired functioning among children in Uganda: analysis of a cluster-randomized trial from the SMART Africa-Uganda scale-up study (2016- 2022). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
Naslund, J. A., Kalha, J., Restivo, J. L., Amarreh, I.,…Sensoy Bahar, O., Shields-Zeeman, L., Ssewamala, F. M.,…Pathare, S. (In Press). Identifying challenges and recommendations for advancing global mental health implementation research: A key informant study of the National Institute of Mental Health Scale-Up Hubs. Asian Journal of Psychiatry.
McKay, M. M., Bahar, O. S., & Ssewamala, F. M. (2020). Implementation Science in Global Health Settings: Collaborating with Governmental & Community Partners in Uganda. Psychiatry Research, 283. Science Direct
Rahman, A., Naslund, J. A., Betancourt, T. S.,…Byansi, W.,…Sensoy Bahar, O.,…Ssewamala, F. M., & Wainberg, M. L. (2020). The NIMH global mental health research community and COVID-19. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(10), 834-836. ScienceDirect
Sensoy Bahar, O., Byansi, W., Kivumbi, A., Namatovu, P., Kiyingi, J., Ssewamala, F. M., McKay, M., & Nyoni, T. (2020). From “4Rs and 2Ss” to “Amaka Amasanyufu” (Happy Families): Adapting a U.S.-based evidence-based intervention to the Uganda context. Family Process, 59(4), 1928-1945. PubMed
Kivumbi, A., Byansi, W., Damulira, C., Namatovu, P., Mugisha, J., Sensoy Bahar, O., McKay, M., Hoagwood, K., & Ssewamala, F. M. (2019). Prevalence of behavioral disorders and attention deficit hyperactive disorder among school going children in Southwestern Uganda. BMC Psychiatry, 19(105). PubMed
Global Social Welfare: Research, Policy, & Practice. Special Issue on Equity, Collaboration, and Empowerment in Mental Health Research Partnerships, September 2019, Volume 6, Issue 3
Issue editors: Manasi Kumar, PhD & Ozge Sensoy Bahar, PhD
Kumar, M., & Sensoy Bahar, O. (2019). Introduction to the issue on equity, collaboration, and empowerment in mental health research partnerships. Global Social Welfare: Research, Policy, & Practice, 6(3), 141-144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40609-019-00159-y
Ssewamala, F. M., Sensoy Bahar, O., McKay, M., Huang, K. Y., Hoagwood, K., & Pringle, B. (2018). Strengthening mental health and research training in Sub-Saharan Africa (SMART Africa): Uganda study protocol. BMC Trials, 19, 423. Biomed Central