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

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