Academic Qualifications:
PhD (Public Health and Epidemiology), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.
PG Dipl (Public Health and Epidemiology), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.
MSc (Psychiatric Research Methods), Institute of Psychiatry King’s College London, University of London, UK.
BSc (Hons) (Psychology), University of Ghana.
Benedict Weobong is a Senior Lecturer in Social and Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, and a Global Mental Health Epidemiologist.
My work in the past 14 years has been informed by the principles of global (mental) health along three strands, tied together through the innovative use of task-sharing strategies in Low- and Middle- Income settings. I have specific expertise in psychological treatment development and evaluation, having worked on the PREMIUM Healthy Activity Program (HAP) and Counselling for Alcohol Problems (CAP) Program ,and the SHARE Thinking Healthy Program Peer-Delivered (THPP). I also have experience in implementation research and digital health interventions research. I have been awarded grants to a tune of a little over a million USD over my research career till date, and published over 20 refereed academic papers and two book chapters. My research interests are varied and span child development, adolescent health (mental health and addictions), and maternal mental health and well-being.
Current teaching: My teaching responsibilities span across undergraduate and postgraduate courses. I currently teach courses in health promotion, health psychology, and behaviour change communication. I am also the faculty coordinator for the Bachelor of Public Health weekly seminar series.
Current research/awards: I am currently actively involved in three research projects: 1) I lead a 12-month programme of work to develop a behaviour change intervention for adolescent health check-ups in Ghana, in collaboration with investigators from WHO; 2) I am the country PI on a small grant awarded Edge Hill University, UK, to collect essential preliminary data on normative beliefs and alcohol expectancies among young people in Ghana, in collaboration with the Navrongo Health Research Centre; and 3) I lead a 24-month programme of work (multidisciplinary grant from UGRF) to collect essential formative data to inform the development of a mHealth-based guided self-help psychosocial intervention to promote maternal psychosocial well-being, in collaboration with the Kintampo Health Research Centre.
Social media handles/websites:
Skype: Ben Kwotua Weobong
Twitter:@BWeobong
www.centreforglobalmentalhealth.org
Selected/recent publications:
1. Patel AR, Weobong B, Patel V, Singla DR. Psychological treatments for depression among women experiencing intimate partner violence: Findings from a randomized controlled trial for behavioral activation in Goa, India. (2019). Archives of Women’s Mental Health.
2. Nadkarni A, Garber A, Costa S, Wood S, Kumar S, MacKinnon N, Ibrahim M, Velleman R, Bhatia U, Fernandes G, Weobong B, Rane A. Auditing the AUDIT: A systematic review of cut-off scores for the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) in low- and middle-income countries. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2019;202:123-33.
3. Nadkarni A, Weiss HA, Velleman R, McCambridge J, McDaid D, Park AL, Murthy P, Weobong B, Bhat B, Patel V. Feasibility, acceptability and cost-effectiveness of a brief, lay counsellor-delivered psychological treatment for men with alcohol dependence in primary care: an exploratory randomized controlled trial. Addiction. 2019;114(7):1192-203.
4. Fuhr DC, Weobong B, Lazarus A, Vanobberghen F, Weiss HA, Singla DR, Tabana H, Afonso E, De Sa A, D'Souza E, Joshi A, Korgaonkar P, Krishna R, Price LN, Rahman A, Patel V. Delivering the Thinking Healthy Programme for perinatal depression through peers: an individually randomised controlled trial in India. Lancet Psychiatry. 2019;6(2):115-27.
5. Singla DR, Hollon SD*, Velleman R*, Weobong B, Nadkarni A, Fairburn CG, Bhat B, Gurav M, Anand A, McCambridge J, Dimidjian S, Patel V. (2019). Temporal pathways of change in two randomized controlled trials for depression and harmful drinking in Goa, India. Psychological Medicine 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291718003963.
6. Weobong B, Weiss HA, McDaid D, Singla, DR, Hollon SD, Nadkarni A, A-La Park, Bhat, B, B Katti, et.al. (2017) Sustained effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the Healthy Activity Programme, a brief psychological treatment for depression delivered by lay counsellors in primary care: 12-month follow-up of a randomised controlled trial. PLoS Med 14(9): e1002385
7. Nadkarni A, Weiss HA, Weobong B, McDaid D, Singla DR, et al. (2017) Sustained effectiveness and cost- effectiveness of Counselling for Alcohol Problems, a brief psychological treatment for harmful drinking in men, delivered by lay counsellors in primary care: 12-month follow-up of a randomised controlled trial. PLOS Medicine 14(9): e1002386. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002386
8. Patel V*,Weobong B*,Weiss HA, Anand A, Bhat B, Katti B, Dimidjian S, Araya R, Hollon S, King M, et al., The Healthy Activity Program (HAP), a lay counsellor-delivered brief psychological treatment for severe depression, in primary care in India: a randomised controlled trial. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31589-6. Lancet, 2017. * Joint lead
9. Nadkarni A*.,Weobong B*,Weiss HA ,McCambridge J, Bhat B, Katti B, Murthy P, King M, McDaid D, Patel V*, et al., Counselling for Alcohol Problems (CAP), a lay counsellor-delivered brief psychological treatment for harmful drinking in men, in primary care in India: a randomised controlled trial. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140- 6736(16)31590-2. Lancet, 2017. * Joint lead
10. Endsley P, Weobong B, Nadkarni A. The psychometric properties of GHQ for detecting common mental disorder among community dwelling men in Goa, India. Asian J Psychiatr. 2017;28:106-10