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

NCT06277583 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: NUS-IRB-2023-191
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 137
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

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.

Conditions

Stress, Psychological

Keywords

stress; quality of life; biopsychosocial

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• WHO Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL-BREF)

  Brief version consisting of 26 QOL related questions developed by World Health Organisation. There are four domains, Physical, Psychological, Social relationships, and Environment. The minimum and maximum for each domain is 0 and 100 respectively, with higher scores being better outcome for each domain.

  Baseline, 6 months, 12 months

Secondary Outcomes (18)

• 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

  Baseline, 6 months

• Brief sense of community scale (BSCS)

  Baseline, 6 months, 12 months

• Fried phenotype of frailty

  Baseline, 6 months, 12 months

• Lubben social network scale (LSNS-6)

  Baseline, 6 months, 12 months

• Functional near-infrared spectroscopy

  Baseline, 6 months

Study Arms (2)

Urban Care farming Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

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

Behavioral: Urban care farming

Waitlist control

OTHER

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.

Behavioral: Urban care farming

Interventions

Urban care farming 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.

Urban Care farming Intervention; Waitlist control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 50 Years - 85 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• 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

You may not qualify if:

• 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)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National University of Singapore: lead
• National Medical Research Council (NMRC), Singapore: collaborator

Study Sites (2)

NUS

Singapore, Singapore, 117549, Singapore

Location

Jurong Lake Garden

Singapore, 618661, Singapore

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Stress, Psychological

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Study Officials

• Cynthia Chen, PhD

  National University of Singapore

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Model Details: Waitlist controlled trials: Participants from both the intervention and waitlist control groups will undergo the intervention 6 months apart.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 1, 2023
• First Posted: February 26, 2024
• Study Start: March 15, 2024
• Primary Completion: April 25, 2025
• Study Completion: May 22, 2025
• Last Updated: January 23, 2026

Record last verified: 2024-02

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, ICF
• Time Frame: June 2024
• Access Criteria: Study protocol will be published as a journal article.

Locations

SG (2)