BerryCare: A Community Engagement Program

BerryCare: A Blackberry Extension Lesson Series to Facilitate Community Engagement and Phytonutrient Intake

BerryCare teaches people about the health benefits of blackberries, how to harvest and maintain blackberry bushes and then assesses changes in knowledge and behaviors associated with blackberries and physical measurements.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cardiovascular Risk Factor
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Blackberry Consumption

Detailed Description

BerryCare seeks to teach community members how to grow thornless, erect blackberry brambles and to healthily consume fresh blackberries using Plate It Up Kentucky Proud recipes. Horticulture, nutrition, and extension experts are working together to design a blackberry-growing program that engages citizens and their community in each step of the process, from planting to harvesting berries. The lessons will be delivered by experts in their respective field, with accompanying extension publications and supplemental materials provided for replication of the curriculum in other counties.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 38
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Kentucky
    • Beverly, Kentucky, United States, 40913
      • Red Bird Mission
    • Harlan, Kentucky, United States, 40831
      • Harlan County Extension Office
    • Lexington, Kentucky, United States, 40506
      • University Of Kentucky
    • Nicholasville, Kentucky, United States, 40356
      • Jessamine County Senior Citizens Center
    • Whitesburg, Kentucky, United States, 41858
      • Cowan Community Center

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:

• 18 years of age or older

Exclusion Criteria:

• Physically incapacitated
• Mentally incapacitated

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: BerryCare Participants; Subjects will be recruited to participate in a community gardening program where they will learn the benefits of both physical active gardening and consuming homegrown foods through blackberry consumption.	Behavioral: Blackberry Consumption; Measures of biomedical and behavioral changes resulting from the consumption of blackberries.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in consumption of blackberries	Blackberry consumption will be measured in participants during pre screening and throughout the course of the study.	Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in blood pressure	The effect of blackberry consumption on blood pressure will be assessed at baseline and throughout the study.	Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months
Change in total cholesterol	The effect of blackberry consumption on total cholesterol will be assessed at baseline and throughout the study.	Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months
Change in HDL cholesterol	The effect of blackberry consumption on HDL cholesterol will be assessed at baseline and throughout the study.	Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months
Change in LDL cholesterol	The effect of blackberry consumption on LDL cholesterol will be assessed at baseline and throughout the study.	Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months
Change in A1c	The effect of blackberry consumption on A1c will be assessed at baseline and throughout the study.	Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months
Change in carotenoids	The effect of blackberry consumption on carotenoid status will be assessed at baseline and throughout the study.	Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months
Change in weight	The effect of blackberry consumption on weight will be assessed at baseline and throughout the study.	Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months
Change in waist circumference	The effect of blackberry consumption on waist circumference will be assessed at baseline and throughout the study.	Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months
Change in knowledge	The effect of blackberry consumption on knowledge of phytonutrients and recommended servings of fruits and vegetables will be assessed at baseline and throughout the study.	Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months
Change in self-reported fruit and vegetable intake	The effect of blackberry consumption on self-reported fruit and vegetable intake will be assessed at baseline and throughout the study.	Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months
Change in group cohesion	The effect of blackberry consumption on group cohesion will be assessed at baseline and throughout the study.	Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months
Change in physical function	The effect of blackberry consumption on physical function will be assessed at baseline and throughout the study.	Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Dawn Brewer
• Collaborators: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 18, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 26, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): September 26, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 19, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 19, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): March 26, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): January 19, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 18, 2023
• Last Verified: January 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: older adults; community gardening; cooperative extension
• Other Study ID Numbers: 43452; P42ES007380 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No
• IPD Plan Description: No plan to share data.

Drug and device information, study documents

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