Inspired to Garden: A Qualitative Study of Participants’ Experiences in an Academic Medical Center Garden

Introduction Gardening is a healthy activity that promotes nutrition and satisfaction, with positive impacts on patients with chronic diseases, including patients with obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Hospital-based gardening programs may provide opportunities to introduce patients to gardening. However, few studies have included participant experience as a metric of evaluation. The objective of this study was to explore participant experience in a hospital-based gardening intervention designed for individuals with metabolic syndrome. Methods This study was a qualitative evaluation of free text responses from four questions included in post-participation questionnaires from 59 community-dwelling adults who participated in a hospital-based garden program located at the University of Vermont Medical Center in 2020 and 2021. Eligible participants included a convenience sample of novice gardeners with self-reported hypertension, diabetes, pre-diabetes, or overweight/obesity. We used an interpretative phenomenological approach to analyze the questionnaire data. The phenomenological cycle for each of the questions included: 1) reading and re-reading participant responses, 2) exploratory noting, 3) constructing experimental statements, 4) searching for connections across statements, and 5) naming the themes. This process also involved working with individual question-level themes to develop group themes across questions. Results This dataset was one of positivity about gardening, new information gleaned, and the quality of instruction. Several themes and codes emerged: program implementation (new knowledge, new skills, new connections, instructor ability, climate), self-efficacy (confidence, vicarious experience, mastery experience, verbal persuasion), and future change (behavior change, future issues/problem-solving, passing it on). Conclusion This study supports analyzing participant experience as part of hospital-based gardening interventions. We found positivity around program implementation, increased self-efficacy, and intentions to change behavior in ways that support healthy lifestyles.