William Ddaaki
Biographic Data
| ID | 2617530 |
|---|---|
| NAME | William Ddaaki |
| GIVEN NAMES | William |
| FAMILY NAME | Ddaaki |
| SIGNATURE | DDAAKI W |
| AFFILIATIONS | Rakai Health Sciences Program |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 3 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 11 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Building the foundation
Early and ongoing stakeholder engagement is critical to the development and implementation of scalable behavioral health interventions. Our overarching goal in this implementation research study was to understand and document the process of planning and rolling out Common Elements Treatment Approach (CETA), a transdiagnostic mental health intervention, in Uganda. Guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) 2.0, we cond…
As long as you are married you cannot protect yourself against syphilis”
The study provides practical suggestions for enhancing syphilis awareness, engagement in care, and women's experiences in ANC within a resource-limited, high-burden context. Future efforts should concentrate on extending syphilis education beyond clinics, utilizing Village Health Teams (VHTs) as trusted sources, and identifying barriers to improving healthcare quality for women, informing quality improvement programming
Cognitive interviewing for understanding and adaptation of mental health screening instruments among people living with HIV in rakai, Uganda
Background Mental health is conceptualized differently across cultures, making exploration of the understandability of screening tools for the purpose of adaptation critical. Methods In Uganda, we used cognitive interviewing to understand comprehension of and make adaptations to three scales for measuring psychological distress: the Thinking Too Much (TTM) Questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9), and the Hopkins Symptoms Checkli…
Okweraliikirira and Okwenyamira
Barriers to Routine Antenatal Syphilis Screening in Uganda
Congenital syphilis is preventable through early detection and treatment during pregnancy. Although global syphilis rates have declined, the prevalence of undiagnosed and untreated infections remains high in low- and middle-income countries. In Uganda, national clinical guidelines recommend syphilis screening and treatment at the first antenatal care (ANC) visit, yet coverage remains suboptimal, contributing to ongoing perinatal transmission. As …
Selfie consents, remote rapport, and Zoom debriefings
In-person interactions have traditionally been the gold standard for qualitative data collection. The COVID-19 pandemic required researchers to consider if remote data collection can meet research objectives, while retaining the same level of data quality and participant protections. We use four case studies from the Philippines, Zambia, India and Uganda to assess the challenges and opportunities of remote data collection during COVID-19. We pres…
Perspectives of Women Living With HIV on Addressing Violence and Use of Alcohol During HIV Services
The syndemic relationship between harmful alcohol use, intimate partner violence (IPV), and HIV is well established across international settings. Less is known about how these health issues are perceived by women living with HIV (WLWH), who are disproportionately affected by these intertwined epidemics. A qualitative study was undertaken with 20 WLWH in Rakai, Uganda, to assess their perceptions of how these issues have affected their lives and …
Not Enough Money and Too Many Thoughts
Mental health disorders account for a heavy disease burden in Uganda. In order to provide culturally appropriate mental health prevention and treatment approaches, it is necessary to understand how mental health is conceptualized in the population. Three focus group discussions (FGDs) and 31 in-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted with men and women aged 14 to 62 years residing in rural, urban, and semi-urban low-income communities in central a…
“He was no longer listening to me”
In the era of widespread antiretroviral therapy, few studies have explored the perspectives of the relatives involved in caring for people living with HIV (PLHIV) during periods of ill-health leading up to their demise. In this analysis, we explore the process of care for PLHIV as their death approached, from their relatives' perspective. We apply Tronto's care ethics framework that distinguishes between care-receiving among PLHIV on the one hand…
Women’s role in male circumcision promotion in Rakai, Uganda
Medical male circumcision (MMC) has expanded in sub-Saharan Africa, yet uptake remains sub-optimal. We sought to understand women's perceptions of and influence on MMC in Rakai, Uganda. We conducted in-depth interviews with 27 women in fishing and trading communities, including women married to circumcised and uncircumcised men, single women, and sex workers. Data analysis followed a team-based framework approach. All female participants preferre…
Importance of Relationship Context in HIV Transmission
We present results from life history interviews with 60 young adults from southern Uganda. Using a novel qualitative case-control design, we compared newly HIV-positive cases with HIV-negative controls matched on age, gender, marital status, and place of residence. Relationship context was the most salient theme differentiating cases from controls. Compared with HIV-negative respondents, recent seroconverters described relationships marked by poo…
Not Enough Money and Too Many Thoughts
Mental health disorders account for a heavy disease burden in Uganda. In order to provide culturally appropriate mental health prevention and treatment approaches, it is necessary to understand how mental health is conceptualized in the population. Three focus group discussions (FGDs) and 31 in-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted with men and women aged 14 to 62 years residing in rural, urban, and semi-urban low-income communities in central a…
Importance of Relationship Context in HIV Transmission
We present results from life history interviews with 60 young adults from southern Uganda. Using a novel qualitative case-control design, we compared newly HIV-positive cases with HIV-negative controls matched on age, gender, marital status, and place of residence. Relationship context was the most salient theme differentiating cases from controls. Compared with HIV-negative respondents, recent seroconverters described relationships marked by poo…
Importance of Relationship Context in HIV Transmission
We present results from life history interviews with 60 young adults from southern Uganda. Using a novel qualitative case-control design, we compared newly HIV-positive cases with HIV-negative controls matched on age, gender, marital status, and place of residence. Relationship context was the most salient theme differentiating cases from controls. Compared with HIV-negative respondents, recent seroconverters described relationships marked by poo…
“He was no longer listening to me”
In the era of widespread antiretroviral therapy, few studies have explored the perspectives of the relatives involved in caring for people living with HIV (PLHIV) during periods of ill-health leading up to their demise. In this analysis, we explore the process of care for PLHIV as their death approached, from their relatives' perspective. We apply Tronto's care ethics framework that distinguishes between care-receiving among PLHIV on the one hand…
Women’s role in male circumcision promotion in Rakai, Uganda
Medical male circumcision (MMC) has expanded in sub-Saharan Africa, yet uptake remains sub-optimal. We sought to understand women's perceptions of and influence on MMC in Rakai, Uganda. We conducted in-depth interviews with 27 women in fishing and trading communities, including women married to circumcised and uncircumcised men, single women, and sex workers. Data analysis followed a team-based framework approach. All female participants preferre…
Selfie consents, remote rapport, and Zoom debriefings
In-person interactions have traditionally been the gold standard for qualitative data collection. The COVID-19 pandemic required researchers to consider if remote data collection can meet research objectives, while retaining the same level of data quality and participant protections. We use four case studies from the Philippines, Zambia, India and Uganda to assess the challenges and opportunities of remote data collection during COVID-19. We pres…
Perspectives of Women Living With HIV on Addressing Violence and Use of Alcohol During HIV Services
The syndemic relationship between harmful alcohol use, intimate partner violence (IPV), and HIV is well established across international settings. Less is known about how these health issues are perceived by women living with HIV (WLWH), who are disproportionately affected by these intertwined epidemics. A qualitative study was undertaken with 20 WLWH in Rakai, Uganda, to assess their perceptions of how these issues have affected their lives and …
Not Enough Money and Too Many Thoughts
Mental health disorders account for a heavy disease burden in Uganda. In order to provide culturally appropriate mental health prevention and treatment approaches, it is necessary to understand how mental health is conceptualized in the population. Three focus group discussions (FGDs) and 31 in-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted with men and women aged 14 to 62 years residing in rural, urban, and semi-urban low-income communities in central a…
Cognitive interviewing for understanding and adaptation of mental health screening instruments among people living with HIV in rakai, Uganda
Background Mental health is conceptualized differently across cultures, making exploration of the understandability of screening tools for the purpose of adaptation critical. Methods In Uganda, we used cognitive interviewing to understand comprehension of and make adaptations to three scales for measuring psychological distress: the Thinking Too Much (TTM) Questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9), and the Hopkins Symptoms Checkli…
Okweraliikirira and Okwenyamira
Barriers to Routine Antenatal Syphilis Screening in Uganda
Congenital syphilis is preventable through early detection and treatment during pregnancy. Although global syphilis rates have declined, the prevalence of undiagnosed and untreated infections remains high in low- and middle-income countries. In Uganda, national clinical guidelines recommend syphilis screening and treatment at the first antenatal care (ANC) visit, yet coverage remains suboptimal, contributing to ongoing perinatal transmission. As …
Building the foundation
Early and ongoing stakeholder engagement is critical to the development and implementation of scalable behavioral health interventions. Our overarching goal in this implementation research study was to understand and document the process of planning and rolling out Common Elements Treatment Approach (CETA), a transdiagnostic mental health intervention, in Uganda. Guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) 2.0, we cond…
As long as you are married you cannot protect yourself against syphilis”
The study provides practical suggestions for enhancing syphilis awareness, engagement in care, and women's experiences in ANC within a resource-limited, high-burden context. Future efforts should concentrate on extending syphilis education beyond clinics, utilizing Village Health Teams (VHTs) as trusted sources, and identifying barriers to improving healthcare quality for women, informing quality improvement programming
Medicine (7 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Qualitative research (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Psychiatry (6 works) · Family medicine (4 works) · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions (4 works) · Mental health (4 works) · Mental Health Treatment and Access (4 works) · Clinical Psychology (3 works)