CARE: Diabetes in Ghana

Contextual Awareness, Response and Evaluation: Diabetes in Ghana

Project Summary

The CARE project aims to generate contextual understanding of Type-2 Diabetes (T2D) in urban Ghana (Accra), with a focus on three communities in Central Accra (Ga Mashie (James Town and Ussher Town) and Abogbloshie.  All three communities represent lower socioeconomic groups and areas that are densely populated and have a growing double burden of infectious and chronic disease.

Using a total of eight work packages, this project will adopt an interdisciplinary approach to gain contextual understanding of the area, to make recommendations for interventions at a systems level and adapt and test the feasibility of a Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) community mobilisation intervention, to reduce the burden of T2D in Ghana.  This is drawing on previous research done in rural Bangladesh which was found to be successful.   

The project brings together experts from IGH, the UCL Institute for Advanced Studies, the UCL Bartlett Development Planning Unit, the UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering, the University of York, the University of Greenwich, the University of Melbourne, the University of Ghana and civil society organisations in Ghana to develop contextual understanding of T2D in urban Accra to identify, adapt and test suitable intervention strategies.

Through an interdisciplinary approach the project will explore the contextual drivers, community and systems perspectives of T2D.  It will also describe environmental, economic, health, policy and digital environments relating to T2D. This will lead to the development of context-specific recommendations for intervention and implementation at various levels, eventually testing the feasibility of a PLA community-mobilisation intervention for T2D.

Key Project Information

Dates: August 2020 – March 2024

Status: Complete

Principal Investigator: Dr Ed Fottrell

Partners: University of Ghana, University of York, University of Greenwich, University of Melbourne

Location: Ghana

Funding: GCRF/UKRI

Contact: e.fottrell@ucl.ac.uk

Research Team

UCL
Dr Edward Fottrell
Professor Ann Blandford
Professor Ama de-Graft Aikins
Mr Carlos Grijalva-Eternod
Dr Hassan Haghparast-Bigdoli
Professor Megan Vaughan
Professor Haim Yacobi

University of Ghana
Dr Daniel Arhinful
Dr Ralph Armah
Dr Raphael Awuah
Dr Leonard Baatiema
Dr Sandra Boatemaa Kushitor
Professor Kwadwo Ansah Koram
Dr Ernestina Korleki Dankyi
Professor Moses Kweku Sekyi Aikins
Dr Irene Kretchy
Dr Mawuli Kushitor
Dr Olutobi Adekunle Sanuade

University of York
Dr Hannah Maria Jennings

University of Melbourne
Dr Daniel Strachan

University of Greenwich
Dr Kafui Adjaye-Gbewonyo