Devassy 2021.

Study name	Resiliency Engagement and Care in Health (REaCH): a telephone befriending intervention for upskilled rural youth in the context of COVID‐19 pandemic
Methods	Study design: cluster‐RCT Country: India
Participants	Participants aged 18–35 years who have recently completed their course out of the DDU‐GKY initiative Inclusion criteria: a. alumni students of the DDU‐GKY programme who are either working or are in search of a job; b. own a smartphone. Exclusion criteria: a. do not possess a smartphone; b. unable to operate a smartphone; c. receipt of treatment for pre‐existing mental health conditions in the last year. Stated purpose: to promote mental well‐being and reduce depressive symptoms by assisting participants to mobilize social support from family, friends and significant others by using the telephonic befriending intervention.
Interventions	Intervention: Telephone befriending intervention Participants receiving befriending from trained DDU‐GKY staff, through one‐to‐one phone calls which they will receive in their homes, at a convenient time. The telephonic befriending intervention will be conducted in three phases: (i) proactive engagement and crisis intervention, (ii) problem‐solving oriented support therapy and (iii) assertive linkage with community resources (see Table 2). The three phases will spread across four phone calls for 30 min to 1‐h duration. Control: No intervention: general enquiry phone calls (participate in a baseline and follow‐up assessment using the same instruments. They will receive four general enquiry phone calls lasting 5 to 30 min. It will be a general enquiry about the precautions that are necessary to protect themselves from the infection, and how the family is coping with the lockdown‐related issues. The main focus will be given on psychoeducation‐based enquiries on COVID‐19).
Outcomes	Participants'outcomes of interest for this review Quality of life – World Health Organisation‐Five Well‐Being Index (WHO‐5) Mental health symptoms/depression – Patient Health Questionnaire‐9 (PHQ‐9) Social outcomes (perceived social support) – Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS‐12) Economic outcomes Nil Time points: baseline, post‐intervention (immediate follow‐up ‐ 4 weeks)
Starting date	7 August 2020
Contact information	Saju Madavanakadu Devassy, saju@rajagiri.edu; sajumadavan@gmail.com
Notes	Prospective trial registration number: Clinical Trial Registry India (ICMR‐NIMS) CTRICTRI/2020/07/026834