Dr Jamie M. Lachman
I have over 20 years of experience developing, implementing, and evaluating social interventions for children and families in over 25 countries around the world.
I am a senior research and teaching fellow based at the University of Oxford Department of Social Policy and Intervention. My research is focused the implementation, effectiveness, and scale-up of programmes that improve child and family wellbeing and mental health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.
I am the principal investigator of the Global Parenting Initiative which is a 5-year $22 million project aimed at expanding the evidence and impact of human-digital playful parenting interventions in the Global South. I am also a principal investigator on multiple research projects in Jamaica, Malaysia, Moldova, North Macedonia, Philippines, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, and Uganda.
I am also a co-founder, steering committee member, and master trainer of the World Health Organisation and UNICEF-led initiative called Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH). This initiative is focused on developing, testing and disseminating parenting programmes in low- and middle-income countries.
I am also the co-leader of an international, multi-agency response that has provided open-source and freely available evidence-based parenting resources to over 210 million people in more than 196 countries and territories to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on violence against children and poor child wellbeing.
I am also the former executive director and founder of Clowns Without Borders South Africa, a humanitarian arts-based intervention that provides psychosocial support to vulnerable children and families through humour and play.
I hold a DPhil in Social Intervention at the University of Oxford’s Department of Social Policy and Intervention. I also hold degrees from the University of Oxford (M.Sc. with distinction), Yale University (BA with distinction), and the Dell’Arte International School for Physical Theatre.
I am also a storyteller, banjo-player, singer-songwriter, clown, director, and facilitator.
My research is focused on building the evidence of effectiveness for programmes that improve child and family wellbeing and mental health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries:Â
1) RISE: Prevention of child mental health problems in Southeastern Europe - Adapt, Optimize, Test, and Extend Parenting for Lifelong Health (Co-PI, Horizon2020)
2) Parenting for Lifelong Health – Thailand, an adaptation, feasibility pilot, and randomised controlled trial of the PLH prototype parenting programme for children ages 2 to 9 years (Co-PI; UNICEF Thailand);Â
3) Parenting for Lifelong Health – Philippines, an adaptation, feasibility pilot, and randomised controlled trial of the PLH prototype parenting programme for children ages 2 to 6 years (Co-PI; UNICEF Philippines & UBS Optimus Foundation);
4) Malezi ne Kilimo – Skilful Parenting and Agribusiness Child Abuse Prevention Study, a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial in rural Tanzania (Co-PI; UBS Optimus Foundation); andÂ
5)Â Optimising Parenting Interventions, a pilot to optimise parenting programmes based on effectiveness, cost efficiency, and scalability (Co-I; Fell Fund).
6)Â Parenting for Lifelong Health SUPER (Scale-Up of Parenting Evaluation Research) Study
- Research on parenting interventions in low- and middle-income countries
- Implementation and cultural adaptation research
- Intervention development and feasibility piloting
- Randomised controlled trials and factorial experiments
