Rebuilding Emotional Stability and Strength Through Therapeutic and Life-Skills Education for Internally Displaced Adolescents and Early Adults in Nigeria (RESETTLE-IDAs): A Pragmatic Hybrid Type II effectiveness-implementation study.

Nigeria faces a crisis with over 3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) struggling with mental health issues due to conflict and disasters. Living in crowded camps with limited resources, they face high rates of depression, anxiety, and trauma. Women and children are particularly vulnerable. Our project, RESETTLE-IDAs, will test an innovative mental health support program. We'll adapt a life skills education curriculum to help IDPs cope with challenges and improve their well-being, covering topics like communication and problem-solving. We're comparing two delivery methods: 1.In-person group sessions led by trained local facilitators 2.Daily text messages sent to participants' phones Our study involves 1,600 IDPs aged 12-25 in camps around Abuja. We'll randomly assign 40 camps to either method and measure mental health over 18 months. Uniquely, we're examining both the program's effectiveness and its real-world implementation, including reach, adoption by camps, and costs. Working with local partners, we aim to develop a sustainable program that can be integrated into existing IDP support systems. If successful, our research could provide a model for mental health support scalable across Nigeria and adaptable worldwide, potentially improving millions of lives by building resilience among displaced populations.