Community Activation for Prevention (CAPs): A Study of Community Gardening (CAPs)

Community Activation for Prevention (CAPs): A Randomized Controlled Trial of Community Gardening

The investigators previous studies show that community gardening is associated with reduction of key health behaviors for cancer prevention in diverse populations. Community gardeners eat more fruits and vegetables per day, are more physically active, and are more likely to avoid age-associated increase in body mass index (BMI). The effect is partially explained by the finding that gardeners are more socially involved, and feel more social support than non-gardeners.

The investigators propose a randomized controlled trial to determine whether community gardening improves cancer-preventive behaviors among a multi-ethnic, low-income adult population and elucidate the pathways that shape cancer-preventive behaviors. A randomized controlled trial is needed to demonstrate that the observed behavioral differences are due to the effect of gardening as an intervention rather than self-selection by gardeners.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Obesity; Cancer; Physical Activity; Chronic Disease; Diet Modification; Health Behavior; Lifestyle, Sedentary
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Community Garden Intervention

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 296
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Colorado
    • Boulder, Colorado, United States, 80303
      • University of Colorado Boulder

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Able to give informed consent in English or Spanish
• Aged 18 or over
• Currently on the wait list for a new garden
• Not have gardened in the past 2 gardening seasons

Exclusion Criteria:

• Is not able to complete the study requirements in Spanish or English
• Aged 17 or younger
• Has gardened in the past 2 gardening seasons

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Community Garden Intervention Group; Participants randomized to the Community Garden Intervention Group will receive the garden intervention. Participants will be assigned a plot for one season and will receive a standard package of services and amenities to support participation in the community garden.	Behavioral: Community Garden Intervention; The investigators will recruit prospective adult gardeners who have not been gardening for the past two years and who are listed on Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) wait lists. Individuals randomized to the garden intervention will receive a standardized garden resource package, which includes the following: A garden plot in a Denver Urban Garden; Seeds and plant starts; Introductory gardening workshop; Social events including garden-specific events and garden mentoring. The Wait List Control group will remain on the community gardening wait lists and will not receive these resources. Duration of the intervention is 1 year.
No Intervention: Wait List Control Group; Participants randomized to the Wait List Control Group will remain on community gardening waiting lists and will not receive the garden intervention.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in fruit and vegetable intake from baseline at 20 weeks and 52 weeks	9 24-hour diet recalls will be collected randomly	Measurements will occur during weeks 1-2 (3 random recalls) and week 20 (3 random recalls) and week 48 (3 random recalls)
Change in sedentary time from baseline at 20 weeks and 48 weeks	Accelerometers will be adhered to thigh and collect data for 7 days	3 measurements over one year, T1 (week 1), T2 (week 20), T3 (week 52)
Change in fiber Intake from baseline at 20 weeks and 52 weeks	9 24-hour diet recalls will be collected randomly	Measurements will occur during weeks 1-2 (3 random recalls) and week 20 (3 random recalls) and week 48 (3 random recalls)
Change in Healthy Eating Index (HEI) from baseline at 20 weeks and 52 weeks	9 24-hour diet recalls will be collected randomly	Measurements will occur during weeks 1-2 (3 random recalls) and week 20 (3 random recalls) and week 48 (3 random recalls)
Change in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) from baseline to 20 weeks	Accelerometers will be adhered to thigh and collect data for 7 days	3 measurements over one year, T1 (week 1), T2 (week 20), T3 (week 52)
Change in waist circumference from baseline to 20 weeks and 52 weeks	Measurement of waist circumference (cm)	3 measurements over one year, T1 (week 1), T2 (week 20), T3 (week 52)
Change in weight (kg) from baseline to 20 weeks and 52 weeks	Objective measurement of weight will be collected	3 measurements over one year, T1 (week 1), T2 (week 20), T3 (week 52)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Perceived Stress from baseline to 20 weeks and 52 weeks	Validated scale of perceived stress will be completed	3 measurements over one year, T1 (week 1), T2 (week 20), T3 (week 52)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Colorado, Boulder
• Collaborators: University of South Carolina; Michigan State University; Colorado State University; Colorado School of Public Health; Denver Urban Gardens
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jill S Litt, PhD, University of Colorado, Boulder

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Villalobos A, Alaimo K, Erickson C, Harrall KK, Glueck DH, Buchenau H, Buchenau M, Coringrato E, Decker E, Fahnestock L, Hamman RF, Hebert JR, Hurley TG, Leiferman JA, Li K, Quist P, Litt JS. CAPS on the move: Crafting an approach to recruitment for a randomized controlled trial of community gardening. Contemp Clin Trials Commun. 2019 Nov 8;16:100482. doi: 10.1016/j.conctc.2019.100482. eCollection 2019 Dec.
• Litt JS, Alaimo K, Buchenau M, Villalobos A, Glueck DH, Crume T, Fahnestock L, Hamman RF, Hebert JR, Hurley TG, Leiferman J, Li K. Rationale and design for the community activation for prevention study (CAPs): A randomized controlled trial of community gardening. Contemp Clin Trials. 2018 May;68:72-78. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2018.03.005. Epub 2018 Mar 18.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 1, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 30, 2020
• Study Completion (Anticipated): June 30, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 17, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 17, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): March 24, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 7, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 4, 2021
• Last Verified: May 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Physical Activity; Obesity; Randomized Controlled Trial; Diet; Cancer Prevention; Health Behavior Change; Community Gardening; Neighborhood
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Disease Attributes; Chronic Disease
• Other Study ID Numbers: 16-0644

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No
• IPD Plan Description: The investigators will store all Individual Participant Data in a HIPPA compliant database separate from the study database. All analysis will be conducted on an analytic data set, stripped of indirect and direct identifiers.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No