Dr. Tolulope T. BELLA-AWUSAH

Profile

	Name:Tolulope T. BELLA-AWUSAH
	Designation: Senior Lecturer
	Faculty: CLINICAL SCIENCES
	Department: Psychiatry
	Phone Number: +234 8025905241
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Biography: Dr Tolulope Bella – Awusah graduated MBBS from the University of Ibadan in1999. She had her residency training in Psychiatry at the University College Hospital Ibadan, obtaining the Fellowship of the West African College of Physicians in Psychiatry, in 2007.  She joined the Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine University of Ibadan in 2009. She won the World Psychiatry Association Fellowship in 2009 and was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Pittsburgh, USA in 2010. She obtained a Master of Science in Child and Adolescent Mental Health (MSc. CAMH) with Distinction from the MacArthur funded Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health in 2013. She is passionate about improving the mental health of infants, children and adolescents and works as a leader of multidisciplinary teams of Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) professionals in the sectors of health, education and juvenile justice to develop services and interventions, as well as to promote and advocate for CAMH in sub- Saharan Africa. .  Dr Tolulope Bella – Awusah is currently the Acting Director, Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, and immediate past  President of the African Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (AACAMH). The main focus of her research is in the area of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health. Within this broad subject area, She has  worked extensively on addressing the mental health needs of young people through school-based activities.  Her sojourn into school mental health was founded on previous studies carried out in the early 2000’s which found a huge burden of mental health disorders among school going adolescents in our local context.  These findings led to the design and execution of  comprehensive school based  needs assessments. These were aimed at exploring the understanding of members of the school community (school administrators, teachers, students) about youth mental health issues. These assessments also explored available resources, and the types of resources which would be needed for effective school mental health programmes. Subsequently novel school based  interventions were piloted, with promising results.

Resume

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Research

1. Title: Developing comprehensive emotional well - being programmes in secondary schools in Ibadan, Nigeria: 2018 to date.
Funder: Nil
Brief Summary: This study aims to assess mental health needs in schools and to provide wholistic mental health promotion, prevention, treatment and recovery interventions in secondary schools in Ibadan Nigeria.

2. Title: Improving Child Mental Health Service Utilization in Ibadan Nigeria Using a Community Based Participatory Research Approach
Funder: NIH
Brief Summary: To Improve Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) Service Utilization in Ibadan Nigeria to reduce the huge treatment gap, using a Community Based Participatory Research Approach. In the first phase researchers empirically test a CAMH Help Seeking Model employing a cross sectional mixed study design. The second phase consists of an experimental study design using a community-based participatory approach to develop, implement and evaluate an intervention to increase caregivers willingness to utilize available child and adolescent mental health services for their children in Ibadan.
Role: Co- Investigator
Collaborators: (Lead PI: Kang, Howard University, USA)

3. Title: Accelerating Achievement for Africa’s Adolescents Hub, 2018-2023;
Funder: Global Challenges Research Fund(GCRF)
Brief Summary: In this grant, the researchers in the Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CCAMH), collaborative within a Hub to carry out research in response to  the  Global Challenges Research Fund’s call for  Interdisciplinary Research Hubs to Address Intractable Challenges Faced by adolescents in Africa.
Role: Team member
Collaborators: Lead PI: Lucie Cluver, University of Oxford, University of Cape Town, University College London, University of KwaZulu-Natal, African Population and Health Research Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and others

4. Title: Transforming Access to Care for Serious Mental Disorders in Slums – TRANSFORM Project
Funder: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
Brief Summary: The TRANSFORM “Transforming Access to Care in Slums” is a 4-year research project aimed at helping people with serious mental illness receive good quality care and treatment. The project will develop ways for traditional and faith healers, mental health professionals, primary care practitioners and community health workers (CHWs) to work together to provide the best treatment and improve the lives of people with serious mental illness and their families.
Role: PhD. candidate
Collaborators: Lead PI: Professor Swaran Singh, Warwick University & collaborators in Bangladesh

5. Title: SUCCEED Africa: SUpport, Comprehensive Care and EmpowErment for people with psychosocial Disabilities in Sub-Saharan Africa, DFID, 2020-2026,
Funder: UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
Brief Summary: The SUCCEED Africa project is about co-producing the design and evaluation of community-based interventions for people living with psychosis in Africa. This is a 6-year research programme consortium grant to build evidence on “What Works” for psychosocial disabilities in four countries (Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Malawi). The programme, which began in May 2020 has three distinct work streams; Research, Capacity-building and Uptake. The aim is to develop an evidence-based package of multi-sectoral care and support (“enhanced CBR”) for people with psychosocial disabilities that is feasible, acceptable and appropriate for low-resource, community-based settings. Another aim is to generate new knowledge on co-production for mental health research in LMICs by modelling best practice in disability inclusion, addressing attitudinal barriers among key stakeholders, and building the capacity of “experts by experience” to engage meaningfully in mental health research and policy.
Role: Co -investigator
Collaborators: CEO Julian Eaton, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Collaborators in University of Makeni, Sierra Leone, University of Zimbabwe and Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Malawi.

Completed Research

1. Needs assessment for child mental health programs in primary schools in Ibadan, Nigeria (February to March, 2007).

2. Training School Counsellors/Teachers and Young people in secondary schools in Ibadan, Nigeria on common mental health problems: Strong emphasis on tackling stigma (March and October, 2008).

3. Pittsburgh Bipolar Offspring Study (January 2010 to December 2010).

4. Effects of a school based - behavioural programme on depressive symptoms and psychosocial functioning among adolescents in Ibadan, South West Nigeria 2014.

5. Mental Health Outreach to the Ibadan Correctional Facility 2008 to 2013.

6. Psychological experiences and consequences of female genital cutting: a qualitative study in Nigeria, with preparations for a quantitative follow-up. 2013 to 2019.

7. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department Research, University College Hospital, Ibadan Nigeria 2016 till date. A research component has been built into the services offered by the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department at the University College Hospital, Ibadan for the purposes of monitoring and evaluation.

Publications

1. Ibeziako, P., Bella, T., Omigbodun, O., Belfer, M. (2009). Teachers Perspectives of Mental Health Needs in Nigerian Schools. Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health 21. No. 2:147 – 156pp.

2. Bella, T.T., Omigbodun, O.O. (2009) Social phobia in Nigerian university students: prevalence, correlates and co-morbidity. Social Psychiatry Psychiatric Epidemiology 44. No. 6: 458 – 463pp

3. Bella, T., Omigbodun, O., Atilola, O. (2011). Towards School Mental Health in Nigeria: Baseline Knowledge and Attitudes of Elementary School Teachers. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion 4. No. 3: 55 – 62pp

4. Bella, T., Goldstein, T., Axelson, D., Obreja, M., Monk, K., Hickey, M.B., Goldstein, B., Brent, D., Diler, R.S., Kupfer, D., Sakolsky, D., Birmaher, B. (2011). Psychosocial functioning in offspring of parents with bipolar disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders 133. Nos. 1-2:204 – 211pp

5. Bella-Awusah T, Adedokun B, Dogra N, Omigbodun O. (2014). The impact of a mental health teaching programme on rural and urban secondary school students' perceptions of mental illness in southwest Nigeria. Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health 26. No. 3: 207-215pp

6. Bella-Awusah T.T., Ani C., Ajuwon A., Omigbodun O.O. (2016). Effectiveness of Brief School – Based, Group Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Depressed Adolescents in South West Nigeria. Child and Adolescent Mental Health 21. No. 1: 44-50pp

7. Ekore, R.I., Ajuwon, A.J., Abdulmalik, J.O., Bella-Awusah, T.T. (2016). Developing mental health peer counselling services for undergraduate students of a Nigerian university: a pilot study. IFE PsychologIA: An International Journal 24. No. 2: 246-258pp

8. Isa E., Ani C., Bella-Awusah T., Omigbodun O.O. (2018). Effects of Psycho-education plus basic Cognitive Behavioural Therapy strategies on medication-treated adolescents with depressive disorder in Nigeria. Journal of Child & Adolescent Mental Health 30. No 1:11 -18

9. Bella-Awusah, T., Omigbodun, O. (2020). Schools and their potential to promote mental health for children in Nigeria. The Lancet. Child & Adolescent Health 4. No. 3:175 -177pp

10. Are, A., Olisah, V., Bella-Awusah, T., Ani, C. (2021). Controlled clinical trial of teacher-delivered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for adolescents with clinically diagnosed depressive disorder in Nigeria. International Journal of Mental Health 50. No. 3:1-20pp

Supervision

CURRENT STUDENTS

  Masters Level

1. The effect of training programme for teachers on knowledge and management of problem behaviors among in-school adolescents, Rashidat Opeyemi Zebilon

2. Satisfaction and perceived quality of care: perspectives from adolescent mental health service users and their caregivers in the university college hospital, Ibadan Olubunmi Fola-Bolumole

Fellowship Level

1. Effect of an Internet-Based Psychological Intervention for Depression among Students of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Olubunmi Fola-Bolumole, West African College of Physicians,  2017

 PREVIOUS STUDENTS (Selected)

     Masters Level

1. Kamau Judy (2015) Title: Factors influencing pathways to child and adolescent mental health services in Kenya.

2. Addom Selasie (2015)  Title: Depression and anxiety disorders among adolescents with epilepsy in Accra, Ghana.

3. Olonisakin Bolatito (2016) Title: Needs Assessment for Mental Health counselling and a pilot counselling intervention for nursing students with psychological distress at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

4. Conteh Sarah (2017.) Title: Anxiety, depression, PTSS in adolescents residing in the Aberdeen community, Freetown in the Post-Ebola period

5. Oyekunle Femi (2018.) Title: A feasibility study on the effect of supportive counselling on the psychological wellbeing of mothers in the neonatal wards of the University College Hospital, Ibadan

6. Badjie Aida (2019 ).Title: Mental health problems among children and youth living with hearing and visual impairments in the Gambia

7. Egbegi Ruth (2020). Title: Effectiveness of a Sleep Intervention Programme on Sleep Problems, Mental Health and Quality of Life among Adolescents in Bayelsa State

     Fellowship

1. Title: Current and lifetime exposure to Trauma and Post Traumatic Stress among inmates of the Abeokuta Borstal Home, Olauinka Atilola, West African College of Physicians, 2011.

2. Title: Child maltreatment among secondary school students in Ibadan, Nigeria: prevalence and associated psychiatric morbidity. Kehinde Lawal, West African College of Physicians, 2018

3. Title: Effect of a Teacher- mediated behavioral programme on depression and self- esteem among secondary school adolescents in Zaria Northwest Nigeria. Adefemi Are, West African College of Physicians, 2019

Grants

1. Title: Improving Child Mental Health Service Utilization in Ibadan Nigeria Using a Community Based Participatory Research Approach
Funder: NIH
Brief Summary: To Improve Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) Service Utilization in Ibadan Nigeria to reduce the huge treatment gap, using a Community Based Participatory Research Approach. In the first phase researchers empirically test a CAMH Help Seeking Model employing a cross sectional mixed study design. The second phase consists of an experimental study design using a community-based participatory approach to develop, implement and evaluate an intervention to increase caregivers willingness to utilize available child and adolescent mental health services for their children in Ibadan.
Role: Co- Investigator
Collaborators: (Lead PI: Kang, Howard University, USA)

2. Title: Accelerating Achievement for Africa’s Adolescents Hub, 2018-2023;
Funder: Global Challenges Research Fund(GCRF)
Brief Summary: In this grant, the researchers in the Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CCAMH), collaborative within a Hub to carry out research in response to  the  Global Challenges Research Fund’s call for  Interdisciplinary Research Hubs to Address Intractable Challenges Faced by adolescents in Africa.
Role: Team member
Collaborators: Lead PI: Lucie Cluver, University of Oxford, University of Cape Town, University College London, University of KwaZulu-Natal, African Population and Health Research Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and others

3. Title: Transforming Access to Care for Serious Mental Disorders in Slums – TRANSFORM Project
Funder: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
Brief Summary: The TRANSFORM “Transforming Access to Care in Slums” is a 4-year research project aimed at helping people with serious mental illness receive good quality care and treatment. The project will develop ways for traditional and faith healers, mental health professionals, primary care practitioners and community health workers (CHWs) to work together to provide the best treatment and improve the lives of people with serious mental illness and their families.
Role: PhD. candidate
Collaborators: Lead PI: Professor Swaran Singh, Warwick University & collaborators in Bangladesh

4. Title: SUCCEED Africa: SUpport, Comprehensive Care and EmpowErment for people with psychosocial Disabilities in Sub-Saharan Africa, DFID, 2020-2026,
Funder: UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
Brief Summary: The SUCCEED Africa project is about co-producing the design and evaluation of community-based interventions for people living with psychosis in Africa. This is a 6-year research programme consortium grant to build evidence on “What Works” for psychosocial disabilities in four countries (Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Malawi). The programme, which began in May 2020 has three distinct work streams; Research, Capacity-building and Uptake. The aim is to develop an evidence-based package of multi-sectoral care and support (“enhanced CBR”) for people with psychosocial disabilities that is feasible, acceptable and appropriate for low-resource, community-based settings. Another aim is to generate new knowledge on co-production for mental health research in LMICs by modelling best practice in disability inclusion, addressing attitudinal barriers among key stakeholders, and building the capacity of “experts by experience” to engage meaningfully in mental health research and policy.
Role: Co -investigator
Collaborators: CEO Julian Eaton, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Collaborators in University of Makeni, Sierra Leone, University of Zimbabwe and Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Malawi.

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Other Interest/Hobbies

In my spare time I volunteer with a Non-governmental organisation called Nurturing the Educational and Emotional needs of persons with Down Syndrome (NEEDS).  This is a parent led organisation which aims to bridge gaps in the education of and nurture the all -round development of persons living with Down syndrome in Nigeria. I  am also a member of the Nigerian association for family development in Nigeria (NAFAD)