Urban Care Farming on Living Well and Productive Engagement of Older Adults

NCT ID: NCT06277583

Last Updated: 2026-01-23

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 137 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2024-03-15
• Study Completion Date: 2025-05-22

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 to 85 years. 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.

Conditions

Stress, Psychological

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: OTHER
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Urban Care farming Intervention

This intervention group of participants will receive the experimental urban care farming treatment.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Urban care farming

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

An intervention curriculum has been designed using horticulture therapy combined with urban farming techniques. The sessions will use plants and interaction with nature to engage and rehabilitate participants. Both the intervention and control group participants will undergo the intervention. But the intervention group will start with the urban care farming intervention first, and the control group will follow once the intervention group completes the program.

Waitlist control

Waitlist control group consists of participants who do not receive the experimental treatment, but who are put on a waiting list to receive the intervention after the active treatment group does.

Group Type: OTHER

Urban care farming

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

An intervention curriculum has been designed using horticulture therapy combined with urban farming techniques. The sessions will use plants and interaction with nature to engage and rehabilitate participants. Both the intervention and control group participants will undergo the intervention. But the intervention group will start with the urban care farming intervention first, and the control group will follow once the intervention group completes the program.

Interventions

Urban care farming

An intervention curriculum has been designed using horticulture therapy combined with urban farming techniques. The sessions will use plants and interaction with nature to engage and rehabilitate participants. Both the intervention and control group participants will undergo the intervention. But the intervention group will start with the urban care farming intervention first, and the control group will follow once the intervention group completes the program.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• 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)

• Minimum Eligible Age: 50 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 85 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

National Medical Research Council (NMRC), Singapore

OTHER_GOV

Sponsor Role: collaborator

National University of Singapore

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Chen Huijun, Cynthia

Associate Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Cynthia Chen, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

National University of Singapore

Locations

NUS

Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

Jurong Lake Garden

Singapore, , Singapore

Countries

Singapore

Other Identifiers

NUS-IRB-2023-191

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id