Clinical trial NCT06277583: Urban Care Farming on Living Well and Productive Engagement of Older Adults
Official title: Effects of Urban Care Farming on Promoting Wellbeing and Productive Engagement for Older Adults: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Stress, Psychological
Keywords: stress
anxiety
quality of life
Lead sponsor: National University of Singapore
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Medical Research Council (NMRC), Singapore
First posted: 2024-02-26
Enrollment: 200
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 50
Maximum age (years): 80
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Waitlist controlled trials: Participants from both the intervention and waitlist control groups will undergo the intervention 6 months apart.
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: The goal of the randomized controlled trials is to learn about the effects of urban farming interventions on older adults' physical, mental, and social well-being of older adults aged 50 and above. The main questions the study aims to answer are Q1. Would participants who have undergone the urban care farming intervention have lower stress levels compared to those who did not undergo the intervention? Q2. Would the quality of life and biopsychosocial factors of older adults who participate in the urban farming interventions be better before the intervention and compared to those who did not participate? Q3. Would running intervention programs as such demonstrate cost-effectiveness? Participants will be enrolled in 24 weekly lessons providing hands-on urban farming techniques, including physical activity, planting, and social interactions. Researchers will compare older participants with similar demographic profile to determine if the biological, psychological, and social factors are better for the intervention group.

Detailed description: The data collection consists of three sessions, before and after the 24-week intervention program, and 6 months post-intervention. Prior to the data collection, participants will be assessed for eligibility criteria and explained the detailed study procedures by trained research staff for informed consent. After completing the written informed consent, participants will be interviewed using detailed questionnaires relating to their health, nutrition, and dietary status, psychosocial measures, and undergo a series of physical examinations. These examinations include physical performance tests of mobility and gait, balance and strength, body measurements of weight, height, body mass index (BMI), waist-hip circumference, mid-upper-arm and calf circumference, blood pressure, and blood tests that will examine participants' clinical profile, biomarkers, and immunoassays. Participants will also be given Fitbit trackers to determine if they have improved their physical activity. Last, data collected will also include Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a non-invasive procedure to determine the oxygenation levels of participants at rest and while doing some thinking activities. This data collection procedure will be conducted at baseline before the intervention and after the completion of the intervention.

The intervention will include a weekly, 24-week urban farming program. Each weekly session is where participants will engage in outdoor and indoor horticultural activities ranging from fertilization, sowing, and watering, to transplanting, maintaining, and harvesting vegetables and herbs.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Aged between 50 and 80
* Reside in Singapore
* Willing to take part in the intervention
* Agree for their data to be used for research purposes
* Ambulant and able to carry out some tasks independently

Exclusion Criteria:

* Not willing to participate in the data collection (participants can opt not to answer some questions in the questionnaire but have to consent to the other data collection methods, e.g., Blood taking/test)
* Refusal to give informed consent
* Unable to give consent independently
* Have a disability of the upper or lower body that limits their mobility
* Have medical conditions which in the opinion of the research/investigative team that would compromise (or interfere with) their ability to participate in the study
* Had a recent severe medical episode (e.g., heart attack)

Primary outcomes:
measure: WHO Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL-BREF)
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Immuno-biomarkers: IL-1RA, IL-6, IL-8 (CXCL8), IL-10, IL-13, IL-17A (CTLA-8), MIP-3 beta (CCL19), SDF-1 alpha, MMP-3, MMP-9, MCP-1 (CCL2), and TNF alpha
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months
measure: Brief sense of community scale (BSCS)
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months
measure: Fried phenotype of frailty
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months
measure: Lubben social network scale (LSNS-6)
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months
measure: Functional near-infrared spectroscopy
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months
measure: EQ5D
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months
measure: Geriatric anxiety scale (GAS-10)
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months
measure: MOCA
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months
measure: Brief resilience scale
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months
measure: De jong Gierveld loneliness scale
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months
measure: Fitbit
timeFrame: Continuous for 12 months
measure: Body weight and height
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months
measure: Fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months
measure: Serum Creatinine
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months
measure: Attitude towards eating healthy food
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months
measure: Waist and hip circumference
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months
measure: Blood pressure
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months
measure: Lipid panel
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months
measure: Eating fruits and vegetables behavior
timeFrame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Singapore
country: Singapore
facility: NUS
city: Singapore
country: Singapore
facility: Jurong Lake Garden
Study officials:
affiliation: National University of Singapore
name: Cynthia Chen, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: