Gardening for Health for Cancer Survivors

Official title

Gardening for Health for Cancer Survivors (G4H-CS)

Overview

This study is testing whether a gardening and nutrition program can improve well-being in people who have had cancer. Many cancer survivors continue to experience challenges after treatment, including changes in appetite, nutrition, stress, and quality of life. Programs that combine healthy eating, physical activity, and social connection may help address these issues. In this study, participants will take part in a 6-week, in-person program called Gardening for Health. The program includes weekly group sessions held at a garden at the University of Vermont Medical Center. Each session lasts about two hours and includes hands-on gardening activities, nutrition education, cooking demonstrations, and guided wellness practices such as mindfulness and light movement. Participants will also receive educational materials to support healthy eating and gardening at home. The main goal of the study is to determine whether this program is feasible and acceptable for cancer survivors, meaning whether people are willing to participate, attend sessions, and find the program helpful and satisfying. The study will also explore whether participation is associated with improvements in quality of life, stress, sense of belonging, and nutrition-related behaviours. Participants will complete questionnaires before starting the program and again after the 6-week program ends. These surveys will ask about overall health, stress levels, social connection, and lifestyle habits. The researchers hypothesize that participation in the Gardening for Health program will be feasible and well-received by cancer survivors, and that it may lead to improvements in quality of life, reduced stress, and increased feelings of connection and well-being. This is a single-group study, all participants receive the intervention and there is no comparison group. The results will help determine whether this type of program should be studied further in larger trials.

Detailed description

This is a prospective, single-center, single-arm feasibility study designed to evaluate a structured gardening and nutrition-based intervention, among adult cancer survivors. The study will enroll approximately 15 participants at the University of Vermont Cancer Center.

Cancer survivors frequently experience persistent challenges following treatment, including nutritional deficits, altered taste and appetite, reduced physical activity, psychosocial stress, and decreased quality of life. Prior research has demonstrated that multi-component lifestyle interventions, may improve dietary intake, physical functioning, and psychosocial outcomes. Building on this evidence and prior pilot work conducted at the University of Vermont Medical Center, this study evaluates an adapted, short-duration gardening and nutrition intervention tailored specifically for cancer survivors.

The intervention consists of six weekly, in-person sessions delivered over approximately six weeks in a rooftop garden setting. Each session is approximately two hours in duration and is led by a multidisciplinary team. The intervention integrates hands-on gardening activities, nutrition education, culinary instruction, and experiential components such as mindfulness, light physical activity, and nature-based engagement.

The primary objective is to evaluate feasibility and acceptability of the intervention, assessed through recruitment, retention, attendance, and participant satisfaction. Secondary objectives include assessing pre- to post-intervention changes in psychosocial outcomes, including health-related quality of life, perceived stress, and sense of belonging, as well as exploratory changes in nutrition-related knowledge and behaviors.

Participants will complete self-report assessments at baseline (prior to intervention initiation) and immediately following completion of the intervention. Qualitative feedback collected through post-intervention surveys will be analyzed to characterize participant experience and perceived impact.

This study is not powered to detect statistically significant differences in outcomes but is intended to generate preliminary data on feasibility, acceptability, and potential signals of efficacy to inform the design of future controlled trials.

Interventions

• Behavioral Gardening and Nutrition Intervention
  The intervention is a structured, six-week, in-person gardening and nutrition-based program delivered at the University of Vermont Medical Center rooftop garden. Participants will attend one session per week, each approximately two hours in duration, for a total of six sessions. The program is led by a multidisciplinary team. Each session integrates hands-on gardening activities (e.g., planting, garden maintenance, harvesting), nutrition education (e.g., dietary fiber, hydration, anti-inflammat

Primary outcome measures

• Acceptability of the Gardening and Nutrition Intervention [Time frame: At 6 weeks (post-intervention)]
• Recruitment Rate [Time frame: At 6 weeks (post-intervention)]
• Retention Rate [Time frame: At 6 weeks (post-intervention)]
• Session Attendance [Time frame: During the 6-week intervention period]
• Assessment Completion Rate [Time frame: At 6 weeks (post-intervention)]

Secondary outcome measures (3)

• Change in Health-Related Quality of Life (SF-36) [Time frame: Baseline to 6 weeks]
• Change in Perceived Stress (Perceived Stress Scale) [Time frame: Baseline to 6 weeks]
• Change in Sense of Belonging (General Belongingness Scale) [Time frame: Baseline to 6 weeks]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Age 18 years or older
• Self-reported current or prior diagnosis of cancer
• Self-identifies as a cancer survivor
• Ability to read, write, and speak English

Exclusion criteria

• Currently significantly immunosuppressed

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Allocation

N/A

Model

Single group

Masking

Open label

Primary purpose

Supportive care

Study locations

Center list to be confirmed — check the primary protocol.

Identifiers

NCT: NCT07565896 · STUDY00004151/UVMCC2602

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗