O-24 Findings from a process evaluation of a community garden intervention for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) prevention among an Indigenous population in the Caribbean.
Author(s):
R Emmanuel, U M Read, S Harding
Type Of Study:
- Experimental or Intervention Study
Year of Presentation:
2023
Objective: There is promising evidence that faith-based organisations can help members adopt new health behaviours and address health inequalities. In the Congregants Taking Action Against Non-Communicable Diseases (CONTACT) study, the Kalinago community drove the idea of a gardening intervention with their churches to prevent the rising incidence of NCDs. We explored the feasibility of trained Indigenous health advocates (IHAs) congregants in churches promoting community gardening to prevent obesity and hypertension.
Methods: Using a participatory approach, four congregants, one per church, were recruited with the help of religious leaders and primary health care nurses and trained in nature gardening, screening for hypertension and health education. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with the IHAs pre-and post-intervention. Interview sessions were tape-recorded with consent; the average session was 45 minutes, transcribed verbatim by a professional transcriber, and reviewed by the researcher.
Results: Analysis of interviews produced three broad themes and nine sub-themes. These were (1) perceived enablers: community engagement and co-production, sense of ownership and self-efficacy, altruism, and social cohesion, (2) perceived benefits: diffusion into the community, increase in healthy lifestyles, and sharing with the community, (3) perceived challenges: environmental, distance and access to the garden sites, and insufficient resources.
Conclusion: Community engagement through co-production can enhance the acceptability, success, sustainability, and scalability of community garden interventions for promoting health and well-being in an Indigenous community. Findings contribute to knowledge on this subject and imply that despite some environmental and logistical challenges, a culturally sensitive co-production approach can maximise social capital within places of worship in Indigenous communities.