SMART Africa-Uganda

SMART Africa-Uganda

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.

SMART Africa-Uganda Publications

Sensoy Bahar O, Byansi W, Nabayinda J, Kiyingi J, Namatovu P, Embaye F, McKay MM, Hoagwood K, Ssewamala FM. “I decided to participate….because I saw it as benefiting our community and families”: a qualitative study of lay providers’ experiences with delivering an evidence-based mental health intervention for families in Uganda. Int J Ment Health Syst. 2023 Aug 21;17(1):24. doi: 10.1186/s13033-023-00593-8. BMC

Brathwaite R, Magorokosho N, Namuwonge F, Tutlam N, Neilands TB, McKay MM, Ssewamala FM. Typology and correlates of parental stress among caregivers of children with DBDs in low-resourced communities in Uganda. PLOS Glob Public Health. 2023 Aug 23;3(8):e0002306. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002306. PLOS Global Public Health

Ssewamala FM, Brathwaite R, Sensoy Bahar O, Namatovu P, Neilands TB, Kiyingi J, Huang KY, McKay MM. The Post-intervention Impact of Amaka Amasanyufu on Behavioral and Mental Health Functioning of Children and Adolescents in Low-Resource Communities in Uganda: Analysis of a Cluster-Randomized Trial From the SMART Africa-Uganda Study (2016-2022). J Adolesc Health. 2023 May;72(5S):S3-S10. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.09.035. Science Direct

Nabayinda J, Ssentumbwe V, Damulira C, Namatovu P, Sensoy Bahar O, Nabunya P, Kiyingi J, Kivumbi A, Namuwonge F, McKay MM, Hoagwood K, Ssewamala FM. The relationship between family cohesion and depression among school going children with elevated symptoms of behavioral challenges in Southern Uganda. J Adolesc Health. 2023 May;72(5S):S11-S17. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.12.016. Science Direct

Brathwaite R, Sensoy Bahar O, Mutumba M, Byansi W, Namatovu P, Namuwonge F, Neilands TB, McKay MM, Hoagwood KE, Ssewamala FM. Short-Term Impact of “Amaka Amasanyufu” Multiple Family Group Intervention on Mental Health Functioning of Children With Disruptive Behavior Disorders in Uganda. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2023 Mar 7:S0890-8567(23)00118-1. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2022.12.028. Science Direct 

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. (2021). 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 J Psychiatr. 2021 Mar;57:102557. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2021. Science Direct

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