Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine | Volume 42 | Issue 6S | December 2020 80S Research Protocol Channaveerachari Naveen Kumar 1 , Prabhat Kumar Chand 1 , Narayana Manjunatha 1 , Suresh Bada Math 1 , Harihara Nagabhushana Shashidhara 1 , Vinay Basavaraju 1 , Jagadisha Thirthalli 1 , Adarsha Alur Manjappa 2 , Rajani Parthasarathy 2 , Pratima Murthy 1 , Ferose Azeez Ibrahim 1 , Namrata Jagtap 1 , Sonakshi Jyrwa 1 , Shanivaram Reddy 3 , Sanjeev Arora 4 , Mary Hawk 5 , Supriya Kumar 5 , James Egan 5 , Margaret Mcdonald 6 use the SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials) statement to describe the methods of these two trials. Trial 1 is to evaluate the “Effectiveness of addition of Virtual-NIMHANS–ECHO tele-mentoring model for skilled capacity building in providing quality care in alcohol use disorders by the existing staff of DMHP districts of Karnataka.” Hub for trial 1 was set up at NIMHANS and the spokes were psychiatrists and other mental health professionals headquartered in the district level office. Trial 2 assesses the implementation and evaluation of the NIMHANS–ECHO blended training program for the DMHP workforce in a HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Kumar CN, Chand PK, Manjunatha N, Math SB, Shashidhara HN, Basavaraju V, Thirthalli J, Manjappa AA, Parthasarathy R, Murthy P, Ibrahim FA, Jagtap N, Jyrwa S, Reddy S, Arora S, Hawk M, Kumar S, Egan J, Mcdonald M. Impact Evaluation of VKN–NIMHANS–ECHO Model of Capacity Building for Mental Health and Addiction: Methodology of Two Randomized Controlled Trials. Indian J Psychol Med. 2020;42(6S):80S–86S. ACCESS THIS ARTICLE ONLINE Website: journals.sagepub.com/home/szj DOI: 10.1177/0253717620969066 Submitted: 11 Aug. 2020 Accepted: 28 Sept. 2020 Published Online: 7 Dec. 2020 Address for correspondence: Prabhat Kumar Chand, Centre for Addiction Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry, Founder of Project Virtual Knowledge Network ECHO and Fellow Indo-US Public health on Tele-technology Project ECHO, University of New Mexico Health Science Centre, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. E-mails: prabhat@ vknnimhans.in, prabhatkumarchand@gmail.com Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-Commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https:// us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). Copyright © 2020 Indian Psychiatric Society - South Zonal Branch 1 Dept. of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. 2 Dept. of Health and Family Welfare Service, Government of Karnataka, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. 3 Dept. of Psychiatric Social Work, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. 4 The ECHO Institute, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA. 5 Dept. of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. 6 University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. and the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Centre, USA. This article aims to summarize the methodology of two randomized controlled trials funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the VKN–NIMHANS–ECHO model of training as compared to training as usual (TAU). Methods: Both RCTs were conducted in Karnataka, a southern Indian state in which the DMHP operates in all districts. We compared the impact of the following two models of capacity building for the DMHP workforce (a) the VKN–NIMHANS–ECHO model and (b) the traditional method. We Impact Evaluation of VKN–NIMHANS– ECHO Model of Capacity Building for Mental Health and Addiction: Methodology of Two Randomized Controlled Trials ABSTRACT Background: Bridging the alarming treatment gap for mental disorders in India requires a monumental effort from all stakeholders. Harnessing digital technology is one of the potential ways to leapfrog many known barriers for capacity building. Aim and Context: The ongoing Virtual Knowledge Network (VKN)–National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS)–Extension of Community Health Outcomes (ECHO) (VKN–NIMHANS–ECHO: hub and spokes model) model for skilled capacity building is a collaborative effort between NIMHANS