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HPPXXX10.1177/15248399211028558HEALTH PROMOTION PRACTICENewman and Lee / GEORGIA PRODUCE PRESCRIPTION PROGRAMS
Produce prescription programs (PPPs) have grown in Keywords: produce prescription; food security; fruit
numbers in the past decade, empowering health care and vegetable incentive; nutrition;
providers to promote health by issuing subsidies for pro- health promotion; community interven-
duce to vulnerable patients. However, little research has tion; process evaluation; qualitative
been conducted on the facilitators that make it easier for research; chronic disease
PPPs to succeed or the barriers that programs face,
which could provide guidance on how to improve future
PPP design and implementation. The study sought to
M
identify the facilitators and barriers affecting positive any factors can influence food access, includ-
outcomes in Georgia PPPs called Fruit and Vegetable ing racial and ethnic inequities, access to
Prescription (FVRx) Programs. A process evaluation transportation, and geographic proximity to
with a qualitative comparative case study approach was food retailers (Walker et al., 2010). Even when abun-
conducted. Fifteen FVRx providers, ranging from nutri- dant food is in proximity, food prices may be unafford-
tion educators to farmers market managers, were inter- able for low socioeconomic households (Breyer &
viewed in a focus group interview or on the phone Voss-Andreae, 2013). Of particular concern is limited
between 2016 and 2017. Two nutrition education classes access to fruits and vegetables (F&V; Bartlett et al.,
and an FVRx best practices meeting were observed, and 2014), which may protect against the diet-related dis-
program documents were collected. Interview tran- eases (Aune et al., 2017; Boeing et al., 2012) that dis-
scripts, field notes from observations, and documents proportionately affect low socioeconomic status groups
were then thematically analyzed. Four overall themes (Leng et al., 2015; Shaw et al., 2016). Though most
were determined regarding facilitators and barriers Americans consume less than the recommended two
experienced by FVRx programs: (1) creating accessible cups of fruits and 2.5 cups of vegetables (U.S.
programming may encourage FVRx participation, (2) Department of Health & Human Services and U.S.
provider dedication to the program is important, (3) par- Department of Agriculture, 2015), lower income house-
ticipants’ challenging life circumstances can make par- holds consume even less than higher income house-
ticipation difficult, and (4) the sustainability of the holds (1.01 cups of fruits and 1.26 cups of vegetables,
program is a concern. The findings of this study suggest
helpful strategies and challenges for providers to con- 1
sider when developing and implementing PPPs in University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
Georgia and beyond. Research on the long-term program
impact is needed, and policy options for sustainable, Authors’ Note: The authors would like to acknowledge the study
scaling up of PPPs should be explored. participants who contributed their time and energy to the study.
TN and JSL were affiliated with one of the FVRx programs under
study. TN and JSL helped plan, implement, and evaluate the pro-
Health Promotion Practice gram’s 2017 programming as part of their regular job responsi-
July 2022 Vol. 23, No. (4) 699–707 bilities. Address correspondence to Taylor Newman, Department
DOI: 10.1177/15248399211028558
https://doi.org/ of Foods and Nutrition, University of Georgia, 280 Dawson Hall,
Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions 305 Sanford Drive, Athens, GA 30602, USA; e-mail: taylor.nicole.
© 2021 Society for Public Health Education newman@gmail.com.
699
compared with 1.08 cups of fruits and 1.53 cups of sought to identify facilitators and barriers related to key
vegetables, respectively; U.S. Department of Agriculture, process evaluation elements: recruitment, dose deliv-
2014). Furthermore, a low socioeconomic status is ered, fidelity, reach, dose received, and context. Sharing
associated with food insecurity (Coleman-Jensen et al., these strategies and existing barriers can strengthen PPP
2019; Seligman et al., 2009), which can independently development and implementation to better promote
increase the risk for diet-related disease (Seligman health in Georgia and beyond.
et al., 2009). A major reported barrier to produce con-
sumption by low-income populations is cost (Bartlett
et al., 2014).
>>
Method
Nutrition incentive programs subsidize the price of Design
F&V and have been shown to significantly increase pro- A process evaluation with a qualitative comparative
duce consumption (Bartlett et al., 2014; Herman et al., case study approach was conducted. A process evalu-
2008) and improve diet quality (Berkowitz et al., 2019), ation can illuminate why a program was or was not
reduce food insecurity (Berkowitz et al., 2019; Ridberg successful (Saunders et al., 2005), which can inform
et al., 2019), and modestly improve conditions of diet- the future direction of FVRx programs. A qualitative
related disease (Berkowitz et al., 2019; Bryce et al., 2017) comparative case study approach (Goodrick, 2014) was
in underserved populations. One type of nutrition incen- used to examine each FVRx program “case” within their
tive is a produce prescription program (PPP), where contexts with the goal of discovering similarities, dif-
health care providers “prescribe” F&V to promote health ferences, and patterns across facilitators and barriers.
among patients with a low income who are experienc- This approach was chosen because it extends beyond
ing food insecurity and/or a diet-related disease. PPPs multiple case study design (Yin, 2014) to explain why
have grown in popularity over the years, but there are an intervention succeeds (Goodrick, 2014).
still many unknowns about the programs due to a lack The study was informed by a constructivist episte-
of consolidated information, including how many exist mology (Crotty, 1998), which assumes that knowledge
across the country. In Georgia, PPPs are called Fruit and emerges through the individuals’ interaction with the
Vegetable Prescription (FVRx) programs (now termed, environment (Crotty, 1998). The epistemology informed
Georgia Food for Health). During this 4- to 6-month-long an interpretivist theoretical perspective (O’Donoghue,
intervention, health care providers prescribe local pro- 2007), which aligns with constructivism by assuming
duce worth $1 per household member per day. Nutrition that knowledge is the product of constant interaction
education and cooking classes often accompany the pre- with the world rather than reality being an objec-
scription. Various health measures, such as weight, body tive truth outside the human mind (Sandberg, 2005).
mass index, and blood pressure, are measured to assess Constructivism and interpretivism informed the meth-
the intervention impact. In 2016–2017, there were six ods of data analysis used to describe the meanings of the
FVRx programs across Georgia. providers’ PPP experiences as constituted through their
Sharing helpful strategies and identifying barriers lived experience in the world (Gephart & Rynes, 2004).
to overcome can provide guidance on how to improve
PPP’s ability to promote food security and health among
underserved populations. Little research has been con- Sample and Recruitment
ducted on the facilitators that make it easier for FVRx Purposive, criterion sampling was used to recruit
programs to produce positive outcomes, such as retain- individuals who possessed intimate knowledge of and
ing participants or improving health measures, or the experience with FVRx programs. Criteria sought pro-
barriers FVRx programs face. Available studies have viders for Georgia FVRx programs that had been in
been largely quantitative with limited focus on the per- operation for at least 2 years. Programs were identified
spective of the providers—the farm and farmers market through their participation in a statewide FVRx network.
managers, the nutrition educators, the health care pro- Providers from three programs in Georgia met the cri-
fessionals, and the administrators who are on the ground teria. After difficulty recruiting one of the programs, a
implementing FVRx programs. pilot program was included in its place. Programs were
de-identified and termed Program A, Program B, and
Purpose
Program C (Table 1).
The purpose of the study was to examine the facili- Program administrators recruited interested provid-
tators and barriers affecting positive outcomes of FVRx ers and worked with the researcher to schedule inter-
programs in Georgia between 2016 and 2017 from the views and observations between November 2016 and
perspective of program providers. Specifically, the study July 2017.
Recruitment • What planned and actual recruitment procedures were used to attract
Methods used to contact and attract participants to your program?
participants
Dose delivered
Extent to which intervention components • What components did you include in your program last year?
were delivered
Fidelity • How closely did you stick to your plan of action once the program
Quality of program delivery started?
Dose received • For those that attended the components, to what extent were
Extent to which participants actively participants engaged in the program activities?
engage with intervention • How did participants like or dislike parts of the program?
FIGURE 1 Key Process Evaluation Components and Interview Questions for 15 Georgia FVRx Providers Regarding FVRx Program
Facilitators and Barriers
I think they really enjoyed our PA’s [nutrition educa- Provider Dedication to the Program Is Impor-
tors]. I think [they] are very engaging. I felt like I saw tant. Many providers volunteered their time for
a real natural rapport and just easy back and forth. FVRx on top of their regular job responsibilities. Pro-
(Dietitian) viders’ dedication to the concept of “food as medi-
cine” kept them motivated, particularly with regard
to using a produce-centric diet to prevent and treat
Friendships formed among participants over the diet-related diseases. One provider explained that
course of the program, with one provider crediting the FVRx was so appealing to her:
nutrition education classes:
We did . . . create a community with those who took It closes the gap between flowing information to
the classes together. They looked forward to seeing people and expecting them to figure out how to
each other and became friends. We just created this enact that themselves, and actually helping people
comradery that communities need to have. (Nutrition have access to the food they need to enact the posi-
educator) tive behavior change. (Researcher)