Southwest Harvest for Health Vegetable Gardening Intervention

Southwest Harvest for Health: A Mentored Vegetable Gardening Intervention for Cancer Survivors in New Mexico

"Harvest for Health" is a home-based vegetable gardening intervention that pairs cancer survivors with certified master gardeners (MGs) from the Cooperative Extension System, the education and outreach arm of land-grant universities nationwide.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cancer Survivor
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: home-based, mentored vegetable gardening program

Detailed Description

Few lifestyle behavior change interventions have been successfully translated into practice. Addressing this research-to-practice gap is a significant research and public health priority. "Harvest for Health" is a home-based vegetable gardening intervention that pairs cancer survivors with certified Master Gardeners from the Cooperative Extension System. The parent study was started at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and is currently being conducted throughout the entire state of Alabama. Preliminary findings suggest that this intervention increases vegetable consumption and physical activity, and improves physical functioning and health-related quality of life. We propose a feasibility study to adapt this promising program to the multi-cultural population of cancer survivors and for the local context (physical, social, and cultural environment) of New Mexico. We will then implement the adapted program, "Southwest Harvest for Health" and evaluate feasibility, acceptability, and fidelity. The adaptation phase is a critical first step towards widespread dissemination, implementation, and scale-up of an evidence-based intervention.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 30
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New Mexico
    • Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, 87131
      • University of New Mexico

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 50 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 50 years or older
• Residing in Bernalillo or Sandoval County, New Mexico
• Diagnosed with an invasive cancer (any type)
• Completed primary treatment (surgery, radiation, chemotherapy)(note: endocrine therapy is allowed)
• Able to read, speak, and understand English (The future larger trial will include Spanish-Speaking participants)
• Not told by a physician to limit physical activity and no pre-existing medical condition(s) that would preclude home gardening, e.g., severe orthopedic conditions, hip or knee replacement surgery within 6 months), end-stage renal disease, paralysis, dementia, blindness, unstable angina, untreated stage 3 hypertension, or recent history of myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, or pulmonary conditions that required oxygen or hospitalization within 6 months.
• Currently not adhering to the recommended number of fruit and vegetable servings per day (consuming fewer than 5 servings of vegetables and fruits/day and not meeting the recommended guidelines for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (< 150 minutes/week)
• Reside in a location that can accommodate a 4' x 8' raised garden bed or 4 (29" x 14") garden containers, or adequate (at least 4 hours) of sunlight per day and have access to running water
• No existing or recent (within the past year) experience with vegetable gardening
• Able to participate in the 10-month intervention (all three seasonal gardens; from mid-February through early November 2020)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• 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: Single Arm; All participants will receive the 10-month mentored, vegetable gardening intervention	Behavioral: home-based, mentored vegetable gardening program; The mentored vegetable gardening program pairs each participant with a certified Master Gardener. The participant/Master Gardener dyads work together to plan, plant and tend to a vegetable garden at the participant's home throughout the year. Gardening supplies, plants and seeds are provided.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Adaptation -- systematic documentation using the Framework for Reporting Adaptations and Modifications Enhanced (FRAME) tool (Stirman et al., Implementation Science, 2019)	Adaptation is "the degree to which an intervention is modified in the process of its adoption and implementation." Adaptation requires a careful balance between achieving fit, i.e., modifying a program to meet the needs of a new target population or local context, and maintaining fidelity, i.e., minimizing changes that could negatively affect the program's effectiveness. Adaptation of the Harvest for Health intervention for the local context (physical, social, and cultural environment) of New Mexico	through study completion, an average of 9 months
Feasibility of the intervention	Ability to recruit 25 cancer survivors in 3 months, achieve 80% retention rates, 80% adherence to the intervention, and high acceptability of the program for both cancer survivors (participants) and Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners.	through study completion, an average of 9 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pre-post change in vegetable and fruit intake	The number of daily servings of vegetables and fruits will be measured by the Eating at America's Table Screener (EATS) questionnaire; this 10-item NCI-developed questionnaire will be able to assess whether individuals increase by more than one serving of vegetables/fruits per day.	baseline to 9-months
Pre-post change in objectively measured physical activity	Physical activity will be objectively measured using the activPAL research grade monitor.	baseline to 9-months
Pre-post change in sleep quality	Self-reported sleep quality will be assessed using the PROMIS 8-item questionnaires for sleep impairment and sleep disturbance.	baseline to 9-months
Pre-post change in physical function	Self-reported physical function will be assessed using the 8-item physical function scale.	baseline to 9-months
Pre-post change in physical performance	Physical performance will be objectively measured using the Rikli & Jones Senior Fitness Battery.	baseline to 9-months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of New Mexico
• Collaborators: New Mexico State University; University of New Mexico Cancer Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 17, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 20, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): December 20, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 24, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 29, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): January 31, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 22, 2021
• Last Verified: March 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: INST UNM 1905

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

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