Page 49 - SAMRC Annual Report 2023-24

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

Mental Health, Alcohol,
Substance Use and Tobacco

Research Unit

Unit director:
Prof. Charles Parry

Prioritising responsive research (4) Instrument development and validation to assess
through impactful interventions mental health and substance use. One example
is a project using AI to develop efficient and valid
The Mental Health, Alcohol, Substance Use and instruments to screen for a wide range of childhood
Tobacco Research Unit (MASTRU) aims to conduct and adolescent mental disorders. Another example
and facilitate rigorous scientific research to inform is a project to validate alcohol diagnostic tools to
policy, healthcare services, and interventions that assess the role of alcohol use in injury-related trauma.
promote mental health and/or reduce harmful
substance use. We currently have 34 active projects, Equitable capacity development
in the following areas: for empowering communities
(1) Epidemiology and surveillance of mental MASTRU has several internal capacity development
disorders, substance use, tobacco use and initiatives for staff including journal club meetings,
associated problems. For example, the South African staff training on research methods, and supporting
Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use people to attend conferences. Collectively, our staff
(SACENDU) is a longstanding project to gather are also currently supervising 29 masters and PhD
reliable and timely data to inform drug and alcohol students, of which 17 are female and 23 are black.
policy decisions, prevention efforts, and treatment We graduated 9 students in the last financial year
strategies. (2) Intervention development, piloting and provided 12-month internships for 3 research
and evaluation. This includes the testing of novel psychologists, thus directly contributing to the
digital interventions to close the mental health ongoing development of the next generation of
treatment gap and the use of machine learning mental health and substance use researchers. Our
to formulate treatment prediction algorithms staff also lecture in post graduate programmes at
within a precision medicine framework. In another a number of universities, including in public mental
project, a motivational interviewing/problem-solving health masters degree and psychiatry masters
therapy intervention was found to significantly degree programmes. As part of our South African
reduce drinking levels in HIV-infected patients on Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use
antiretroviral therapy. (3) Intersection of substance (SACENDU) project we also held regular stakeholder
use and mental health with other social problems engagement and research uptake and evidence-
(e.g. sexual violence), infectious diseases (e.g. TB, based information sharing sessions. These sessions
HIV), NCDs, and environmental issues (e.g. extreme provide key input on trends in substance use and
weather). One example is a project focusing on the best practice in the treatment and management
transmission of TB among people who use illicit of substance use. We also implemented a number
drugs, which found that People Who Smoked Drugs of projects (such as our project focused on TB
(PWSD) had a higher bacterial burden than persons transmission among people wo use illicit drugs)
who did not. Screening for TB among PWSD in which aims to link people to care and to close the
the community may facilitate earlier linkage to TB treatment gap for substance use and mental health
treatment and reduce community transmission. problems, thus directly promoting the dignity of

SAMRC ANNUAL REPOR T 2023-24 47