Discipline:
Researcher
Organization/Affiliation (no abbreviation):
Makerere University
Location:
Kampala
UgandaEmail:
Short biography and a description of your interest(s) in music and health:
Personal Profile
Prof Baguma is a Ugandan with a BSc (Mak), MSc (Sheffield), PhD ( in Psychology and 16 certificates in Psychology and related fields. In 1982, he started working as a Teaching Assistant in the School of Psychology. Now he is at the rank of Professor.
His areas of research include: Psycho trauma, organisational behaviour: social psychology, Organisational Development, Stress, coping and resilience, Psychological testing, Health behaviour, psychosocial aspects of chronic illness (HIV/AIDS, etc), human development, mental illness, psycho-social intervention and cross-cultural research.
He has won 9 competitive research grants, written 24 articles in refereed journals, 2 book reviews, and 13 book chapters, edited 7 books, participated in at least one international book writing project, wrote 2 policy briefs, 4 departmental manuscripts, 3 ephemera, and held interviews with the media on the subject of Psychology.
He has conducted/convened/organised, or attended at least 90 public events including seminars, workshops, conferences and congresses.
He has initiated 17 international research collaboration and linkages and short trainings for Makerere Community and co-produced a tool to assess Corruption and Integrity.
Regarding community service, he has won 11 consultancies, led the community in various capacities including holding various posts in the local community and now being the Local Council Chairperson of Makerere Sub County. He has participated in fundraising for Makerere University where about 500 books and journals have been collected.
He has supervised over 120 masters’ level students, 5 PhDs. He has evaluated/advised 4 international PhD candidates and I have received 3 honours.
He is a reviewer for 15 international journals and a member to 19 past/present Senate/college committees. He is an external examiner to 9 local/international universities and member to 12 past and 12 present professional organisations.
Regarding academic administration, he served as the first elected Director for the Institute of Psychology in 2003, served as a Head of Department of Organisational and Social Psychology from 2005 -2011. From 2011. to 2015 he served as the Dean, School of Psychology.
Research Profile
Baguma is known for applying psychology, with inter-related disciplines, to poverty reduction, health, environment, organizations, individuals, families, groups and communities. His research ‘breaks through’ into world-class applied journals: Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, International Journal of Eating Disorders, Psychology Health and Medicine, Mental Health, Religion and Culture, North American Journal of Psychology, Journal of Psychology in Africa, International Bulletin of Political Psychology, Personality and Individual Differences, International Bulletin of Political Psychology, International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, Educational Psychology, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Interest in music and health:
In Uganda cancer of all types is on the increase with associated psychosocial problems. This study will focus on childhood cancer with the aim of establishing whether music therapy can alleviate emotional symptoms of cancer. If possible we can compare samples from Uganda and the USA
Findings will contribute to policy development in the treatment of cancer symptoms.
Prof Baguma is a Ugandan with a BSc (Mak), MSc (Sheffield), PhD ( in Psychology and 16 certificates in Psychology and related fields. In 1982, he started working as a Teaching Assistant in the School of Psychology. Now he is at the rank of Professor.
His areas of research include: Psycho trauma, organisational behaviour: social psychology, Organisational Development, Stress, coping and resilience, Psychological testing, Health behaviour, psychosocial aspects of chronic illness (HIV/AIDS, etc), human development, mental illness, psycho-social intervention and cross-cultural research.
He has won 9 competitive research grants, written 24 articles in refereed journals, 2 book reviews, and 13 book chapters, edited 7 books, participated in at least one international book writing project, wrote 2 policy briefs, 4 departmental manuscripts, 3 ephemera, and held interviews with the media on the subject of Psychology.
He has conducted/convened/organised, or attended at least 90 public events including seminars, workshops, conferences and congresses.
He has initiated 17 international research collaboration and linkages and short trainings for Makerere Community and co-produced a tool to assess Corruption and Integrity.
Regarding community service, he has won 11 consultancies, led the community in various capacities including holding various posts in the local community and now being the Local Council Chairperson of Makerere Sub County. He has participated in fundraising for Makerere University where about 500 books and journals have been collected.
He has supervised over 120 masters’ level students, 5 PhDs. He has evaluated/advised 4 international PhD candidates and I have received 3 honours.
He is a reviewer for 15 international journals and a member to 19 past/present Senate/college committees. He is an external examiner to 9 local/international universities and member to 12 past and 12 present professional organisations.
Regarding academic administration, he served as the first elected Director for the Institute of Psychology in 2003, served as a Head of Department of Organisational and Social Psychology from 2005 -2011. From 2011. to 2015 he served as the Dean, School of Psychology.
Research Profile
Baguma is known for applying psychology, with inter-related disciplines, to poverty reduction, health, environment, organizations, individuals, families, groups and communities. His research ‘breaks through’ into world-class applied journals: Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, International Journal of Eating Disorders, Psychology Health and Medicine, Mental Health, Religion and Culture, North American Journal of Psychology, Journal of Psychology in Africa, International Bulletin of Political Psychology, Personality and Individual Differences, International Bulletin of Political Psychology, International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, Educational Psychology, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Interest in music and health:
In Uganda cancer of all types is on the increase with associated psychosocial problems. This study will focus on childhood cancer with the aim of establishing whether music therapy can alleviate emotional symptoms of cancer. If possible we can compare samples from Uganda and the USA
Findings will contribute to policy development in the treatment of cancer symptoms.
Collaboration Interests:
Effects of Music Therapy on Psychological and Emotional Distress
of Child Cancer Patients from Uganda Cancer Institute
Prof Peter Baguma, PhD Psychology, Makerere University (PI). [email protected]
Background and analysis of the problem
Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) reports that 750 children are diagnosed with cancer each year, 600 of those cases are detected at the UCI (Balagadde, 2020; UCI Report, 2017). While 90 % of the drugs required for cancer treatment are available, only 30% of the children are treated and out of those, 70% die from cancer. Regarding treatment, radiotherapy is free, but chemotherapy and other cancer treatments are not. Childhood cancer patients report anxiety, depression, and even posttraumatic stress (Marusak, 2018). According to Uganda Cancer Institute, emotional distress ranks as one of the highest of unmet needs for cancer patients
Music therapy uses music to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of patients. Music therapy can be used to reduce stress, manage pain and provide a physical, emotional or creative outlet (Love, 2021). Only active music therapy promotes increases in well-being and positive affect. Published research studies on psychosocial and emotional interventions focus on post-treatment cancer survivors, and not as many on patients during active treatment using controlled trials among children (Geue et al, 2010; Grassi et al., 2010; Wood et al., 2011). Based on these facts, it is crucial to focus research on active music therapy intervention for addressing emotional and psychological distress in children. Music therapy inspires emotional strengthening, improves sense of self, expression of hidden emotions; reduction of stress, fear, and anxiety (Rubin,1987).
Justification: The justification for selecting music therapy over other creative and nonverbal interventions, such as art therapy (which uses imagery of people and things), is based on its clinical and evidence-based use in dealing with emotional and behavioural problems, as well as in the treatment of depression and anxiety (Goyal, 2017; Hohmandaln, 2017). Predictors of mental health among children with cancer are missing in Uganda. Hence, the need to generate information that will guide the government to formulate policy aimed at cancer management.
Relevance: The goal of the study is to improve health, which is a priority in the sustainable development goals, in particular SDG no. 3. If results show that music therapy is effective and has high efficacy, it can be adopted in supplementing the already known interventions like chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In summary, this study is important to pursue for two reasons: 1) Rigorous quantitative research is needed to study the efficacy of active music therapy intervention for addressing the emotional needs of cancer patients during active oncology treatment; and 2) Music therapy has been pilot tested in other countries, but needs further scientific validation.
Hypotheses:
1.Child cancer patients who use the active music therapy intervention during active oncology treatment will report lower emotional distress, depression, anxiety, and PTSD scores from those of oncology patients in the standard care control group.
2.The patient’s and therapist’s perceptions will be positive on music as a therapy in patients’ lives
Methodology
Study Design:
This study will be a repeated measures randomized controlled group design (i.e. the treatment group and the control group). Patients in active cancer treatment will be randomly assigned to either group. Groups will be assessed for 12 months with a follow up at 18 months.
Study Population and sample:
The study sample will be 80 child cancer patients at Uganda Cancer Institute for manageability and feasibility of the study (40 control and 40 experimental) aged 6 to 18 years.
Data Collection Methods and Tools:
1. Data will be collected using a questionnaire to assess demographic and perceptual variables
2.The Distress Thermometer (DT) will be used to screen for emotional distress; It consists of a line with a 0-10 scale anchored at the zero point with "No distress" and at scale point ten with "Extreme distress". Patients indicate how distressed they been during the past week on a scale of 0-10. Patients scoring 4 or above were regarded as requiring intervention. Furthermore, the patient is asked to identify those problems from the checklist which are contributing to their score (O'Donnell, 2013)
3. Children's Depression Index (CDI) (Worchel, 1988) will be used to assess child depression. The CDI is a valid measure of depression in chronically ill children and adolescents.
4.For Anxiety, PROMIS Anxiety Short Form will be used where children will respond to each item by marking one box per row using a response format of Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, and Always depending on how they have felt in the last week on 8 items, e.g., Fear (Pilkonis, P.A et 2011).
5.Posttraumatic stress will be assessed using the UCLA PTSD Index. Participants identify what they consider to be the most major stressor they have experienced, and respond to items based on it.
Data measurement will take place at time points: 1) The first month will be for the baseline; then assessments will be done monthly for 11 months (12 assessments, 22 therapy sessions a year). There will be follow up after 6 months, making a total of 18 months for the whole study
Procedure:
Participants will be distributed evenly to either the treatment or control group using random numbers generated by the computer. Participants in the treatment group will be split into two equal groups of 20 (male = 10, female = 10). The study population shall involve only child cancer patients on stage 2. The justification for this choice is two-fold; 1) Cancer patients in stage 0 and 1 have not developed adverse physical complications that can grossly affect their emotional wellness; 2) Cancer patients in stage 3 and 4 are likely to experience physical incapacitation that may not allow them to participate in the active music making sessions.
The music intervention: The group of 80 will be assessed monthly. Those in the intervention group will be split into 2 groups of 20 (10 males, and 10 female) (for manageability). The first group will be exposed to therapy in the first week. The second group of 20 will be exposed in the second week. The control group will receive no music therapy but will be given newspapers to read. Music therapy sessions will be conducted in a hired venue. Each session will last for 2 hours. Each session will be integrated with drumming, singing, and simple movements. Each patient will have his or her own drum and/or other percussion instruments. No musical experience is required to participate. Participants will be guided into playing drum rhythms mainly through improvisational approach. The focus shall be entirely on how patients feel about their general well-being.
Data Analysis: Descriptive statistics will be applied. The baseline equivalence between the two groups (i.e. treatment group and control group) will be examined using repeated measures, mixed methods. Post-hoc analyses will be employed to determine the location of between-group differences using the contrast procedure. Repeated measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) will be used to examine group differences in cases where adjustments for baseline differences may be present. Additionally, a repeated measures ANOVA will be applied to examine the within-group differences for the treatment group for psychological and emotional distress over time (the measurements after 1-month interval stages). For verification of the stated hypotheses, Pearson Correlation Coefficients will be adopted and linear regression analysis technique will also be used to determine which of the stated variables, anxiety, depression, PTSD, emotional distress, is more influenced by music therapy intervention and other study variables. Difference in difference (DID) technique will be used to compare average scores to determine effectiveness of the intervention. All statistical computations will be performed using SPSS at 0.05 level of significance.
of Child Cancer Patients from Uganda Cancer Institute
Prof Peter Baguma, PhD Psychology, Makerere University (PI). [email protected]
Background and analysis of the problem
Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) reports that 750 children are diagnosed with cancer each year, 600 of those cases are detected at the UCI (Balagadde, 2020; UCI Report, 2017). While 90 % of the drugs required for cancer treatment are available, only 30% of the children are treated and out of those, 70% die from cancer. Regarding treatment, radiotherapy is free, but chemotherapy and other cancer treatments are not. Childhood cancer patients report anxiety, depression, and even posttraumatic stress (Marusak, 2018). According to Uganda Cancer Institute, emotional distress ranks as one of the highest of unmet needs for cancer patients
Music therapy uses music to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of patients. Music therapy can be used to reduce stress, manage pain and provide a physical, emotional or creative outlet (Love, 2021). Only active music therapy promotes increases in well-being and positive affect. Published research studies on psychosocial and emotional interventions focus on post-treatment cancer survivors, and not as many on patients during active treatment using controlled trials among children (Geue et al, 2010; Grassi et al., 2010; Wood et al., 2011). Based on these facts, it is crucial to focus research on active music therapy intervention for addressing emotional and psychological distress in children. Music therapy inspires emotional strengthening, improves sense of self, expression of hidden emotions; reduction of stress, fear, and anxiety (Rubin,1987).
Justification: The justification for selecting music therapy over other creative and nonverbal interventions, such as art therapy (which uses imagery of people and things), is based on its clinical and evidence-based use in dealing with emotional and behavioural problems, as well as in the treatment of depression and anxiety (Goyal, 2017; Hohmandaln, 2017). Predictors of mental health among children with cancer are missing in Uganda. Hence, the need to generate information that will guide the government to formulate policy aimed at cancer management.
Relevance: The goal of the study is to improve health, which is a priority in the sustainable development goals, in particular SDG no. 3. If results show that music therapy is effective and has high efficacy, it can be adopted in supplementing the already known interventions like chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In summary, this study is important to pursue for two reasons: 1) Rigorous quantitative research is needed to study the efficacy of active music therapy intervention for addressing the emotional needs of cancer patients during active oncology treatment; and 2) Music therapy has been pilot tested in other countries, but needs further scientific validation.
Hypotheses:
1.Child cancer patients who use the active music therapy intervention during active oncology treatment will report lower emotional distress, depression, anxiety, and PTSD scores from those of oncology patients in the standard care control group.
2.The patient’s and therapist’s perceptions will be positive on music as a therapy in patients’ lives
Methodology
Study Design:
This study will be a repeated measures randomized controlled group design (i.e. the treatment group and the control group). Patients in active cancer treatment will be randomly assigned to either group. Groups will be assessed for 12 months with a follow up at 18 months.
Study Population and sample:
The study sample will be 80 child cancer patients at Uganda Cancer Institute for manageability and feasibility of the study (40 control and 40 experimental) aged 6 to 18 years.
Data Collection Methods and Tools:
1. Data will be collected using a questionnaire to assess demographic and perceptual variables
2.The Distress Thermometer (DT) will be used to screen for emotional distress; It consists of a line with a 0-10 scale anchored at the zero point with "No distress" and at scale point ten with "Extreme distress". Patients indicate how distressed they been during the past week on a scale of 0-10. Patients scoring 4 or above were regarded as requiring intervention. Furthermore, the patient is asked to identify those problems from the checklist which are contributing to their score (O'Donnell, 2013)
3. Children's Depression Index (CDI) (Worchel, 1988) will be used to assess child depression. The CDI is a valid measure of depression in chronically ill children and adolescents.
4.For Anxiety, PROMIS Anxiety Short Form will be used where children will respond to each item by marking one box per row using a response format of Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, and Always depending on how they have felt in the last week on 8 items, e.g., Fear (Pilkonis, P.A et 2011).
5.Posttraumatic stress will be assessed using the UCLA PTSD Index. Participants identify what they consider to be the most major stressor they have experienced, and respond to items based on it.
Data measurement will take place at time points: 1) The first month will be for the baseline; then assessments will be done monthly for 11 months (12 assessments, 22 therapy sessions a year). There will be follow up after 6 months, making a total of 18 months for the whole study
Procedure:
Participants will be distributed evenly to either the treatment or control group using random numbers generated by the computer. Participants in the treatment group will be split into two equal groups of 20 (male = 10, female = 10). The study population shall involve only child cancer patients on stage 2. The justification for this choice is two-fold; 1) Cancer patients in stage 0 and 1 have not developed adverse physical complications that can grossly affect their emotional wellness; 2) Cancer patients in stage 3 and 4 are likely to experience physical incapacitation that may not allow them to participate in the active music making sessions.
The music intervention: The group of 80 will be assessed monthly. Those in the intervention group will be split into 2 groups of 20 (10 males, and 10 female) (for manageability). The first group will be exposed to therapy in the first week. The second group of 20 will be exposed in the second week. The control group will receive no music therapy but will be given newspapers to read. Music therapy sessions will be conducted in a hired venue. Each session will last for 2 hours. Each session will be integrated with drumming, singing, and simple movements. Each patient will have his or her own drum and/or other percussion instruments. No musical experience is required to participate. Participants will be guided into playing drum rhythms mainly through improvisational approach. The focus shall be entirely on how patients feel about their general well-being.
Data Analysis: Descriptive statistics will be applied. The baseline equivalence between the two groups (i.e. treatment group and control group) will be examined using repeated measures, mixed methods. Post-hoc analyses will be employed to determine the location of between-group differences using the contrast procedure. Repeated measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) will be used to examine group differences in cases where adjustments for baseline differences may be present. Additionally, a repeated measures ANOVA will be applied to examine the within-group differences for the treatment group for psychological and emotional distress over time (the measurements after 1-month interval stages). For verification of the stated hypotheses, Pearson Correlation Coefficients will be adopted and linear regression analysis technique will also be used to determine which of the stated variables, anxiety, depression, PTSD, emotional distress, is more influenced by music therapy intervention and other study variables. Difference in difference (DID) technique will be used to compare average scores to determine effectiveness of the intervention. All statistical computations will be performed using SPSS at 0.05 level of significance.
Keywords:
children, cancer, music therapy
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