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Promoting Mental Health of Teachers and Caregivers using a Personalized mHealth Toolkit in Uganda

Award Number: R33MH131041
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/01/2023
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 08/31/2028

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Promoting Mental Health of Teachers and Caregivers using a Personalized mHealth Toolkit in Uganda - ABSTRACT Anxiety and depression in caregivers of children are the most prevalent mental health problems in populations in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries and are a major public health challenge for which broad management strategies currently do not exist. Caregiver mental health research in SSA has primarily focused on parents and not teachers despite high prevalence of anxiety/depression reported in teachers. In Uganda (the location of our proposed study), an estimated 28% of parents have mental health problems, and 25% of teachers have anxiety/depression. Intervention to address caregivers’ and teachers’ mental health needs remains limited, in part due to lack of resources and cost-effective population strategies. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop mental health interventions that: 1) improve both teachers and parents stress management and reduce prevalence of mental health problems; and 2) apply low-cost population strategies to improve accessibility of the interventions in the broader school system. This proposal seeks to test the feasibility (R21 phase) and effectiveness (R33 phase) of a new mHealth-App intervention, the mHealth Toolkit for Wellness & Empowering Lives of School Community (mWEL) in Uganda. mWEL-App is an interactive preventive intervention tool for teachers and parents as a self-help support modality. mWEL integrates three key mental health service functions: i) comprehensive screen to assess mental health (anxiety, depression), stress, and related contextual risks; ii) a tailored strength and weakness profile/report with recommendations to promote self- awareness and mental health knowledge; and iii) tailored evidence-based strategies and additional support and clinical resources to improve skills in stress management, emotion regulation, and maintain mental wellness. To promote accessibility and to have broader population reach, mWEL will be embedded in the education system and we will develop a sustainable approach to its implementation suited to local capacity and policy. Specifically, we will apply a community and peer-empowered task-shifting approach to develop a workforce for implementation. The Specific Aims are: (1) to build research and service capacity for digital and public health approaches to improve caregivers’ mental health in schools; (2) to test and enhance usability of the mWEL-T and P and to test feasibility and efficacy of both Toolkits in primary schools; (3) to test the effectiveness of the optimized versions of mWEL using a cluster-randomized control trial (cRCT); and (4) to identify big data analytic strategies for improving Digital-Toolkit decision support and precision mental health care.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $284,566 )
2025	2025	NEW YORK UNIVERSITY	550 1ST AVE	NEW YORK	NY	10016	NEW YORK	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	3	9/10/2025	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$95,592
2025	2025	NEW YORK UNIVERSITY	550 1ST AVE	NEW YORK	NY	10016	NEW YORK	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	3	9/9/2025	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$188,974
2025	2025	NEW YORK UNIVERSITY	550 1ST AVE	NEW YORK	NY	10016	NEW YORK	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	003	3	9/16/2025	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$0
2025	2025	NEW YORK UNIVERSITY	550 1ST AVE	NEW YORK	NY	10016	NEW YORK	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	002	3	9/12/2025	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$0
														Subtotal = $284,566

Grand Total All Awards = $284,566

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Promoting Mental Health of Teachers and Caregivers using a Personalized mHealth Toolkit in Uganda

Award Number: R33MH131041

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/01/2023

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 08/31/2028

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