Inside SMART Africa

SMART Africa-Kenya is a pilot study that tests the effectiveness of the Multiple Family Group (MFG) Intervention amongst approximately 180 children and their caregivers in Kiambu County, Kenya. This summer, members of SMART Africa-Kenya, Anne Mbwayo and Manasi Kumar, attended the 4th Annual Conference on Child Behavioral Health that took place in Uganda in late […]

SMART Africa-Uganda is a scale-up study in Uganda that utilizes an adapted version of the evidence-based Multiple Family Group (MFG) intervention. This intervention has 16 sessions that aim to address behavioral health challenges in children and adolescents. Throughout July and August, the SMART Africa-Uganda team has had a number of accomplishments in the field. They […]

Congratulations to Dr. Fred Ssewamala, who was recently invited to become a member of the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. Dr. Fred joins a team of over 350 research scientists that are committed to breaking ground in cancer treatment, research, prevention, education, and community outreach. The mission of […]

Congratulations to the SMART Africa Co-Principal Investigators Drs. Fred Ssewamala and Mary McKay, and Dr. Yesim Tozan from New York University on receiving an administrative supplement from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to assess the cost-effectiveness of the Amaka Amasanyufu intervention in Uganda. Dr. Tozan will lead this new component of the SMART […]

The SMART Africa-Ghana team is doing an excellent job moving forward with their study. The 8th-week assessments for the comparison group were completed two weeks ago and the team was able to collect data from all 68 dyads in this study condition. In addition, the Ghana team collected drawings by school students designed to illustrate […]

  The SMART Africa-Kenya team continues to lay the groundwork for study implementation. This month, the team is conducting the Familia Pamoja (Family Togetherness in Swahili) multiple family group (MFG) facilitator trainings for community health workers and parent peers. The team is already halfway through with the training. As per the study protocol, the team […]

In addition to making preparations for the 4th Annual Conference on Child Behavioral Health in Sub-Saharan Africa, the SMART Africa-Uganda team has been busy with field activities. They recently completed session 7 (of 16) of the multiple family group (MFG) intervention and will start the implementation of session 8 in four treatment schools in early […]

SMART Africa Global Fellow and SMART Africa Co-Investigator, Dr. Ozge Sensoy Bahar, has been busy over the last couple of months. She, along with, the in-country Co-Principal Investigators Drs. Abdallah Ibrahim and Alice Boateng and Co-Investigator Dr. Mavis Dako-Gyeke completed 45 caregiver interviews (targeted n=90) in the Tamale District in Northern Ghana as part of […]

Congratulations to our three Master’s students Charlotte Hechler (MSW), Ruth Katumba (MPH), and Wilberforce Tumwesige (MSW) who graduated from the Brown School on May 16. Over the last two years, our students have been at the heart of ICHAD/SMART Africa taking meeting minutes, editing papers, coordinating studies, and contributing to our newsletter. (Editor’s note: please […]

The Ghana Team has made tremendous progress in its study implementation. In regards to data collection, the team is now conducting Week 8 assessments with the control arm. In addition, the team is preparing to identify, consent and train School Health Education Program coordinators (SHEPs) who will be facilitating the MFG intervention. Moreover, the Ghana […]

The Kenya team has been hard at work preparing for and initiating the study implementation! Having already recruited research assistants, the Kenya team has trained their new colleagues in ethics and on participant consenting, assenting, and screening procedures. This allowed the newly hired research assistants the opportunity to apply the knowledge gained from previous experiences […]

The SMART Africa-Uganda team has made great progress over the last month. The team hosted site monitors between May 8 and May 10 and were commended for a job well done. In regards to study efforts, the SMART Africa-Uganda team has commenced the Amaka Amasanyufu (Happy Families in Luganda) Multiple Family Group intervention in the […]