Fit Around the Farm: A holistic approach to health promotion for elders

Abstract

As a consequence of historical and contemporary structural racism, people from minoritized communities are burdened with higher incidence, more severe morbidity, and earlier mortality from chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. To advance health equity, public health policies and programs must address racialized inequities in the social and environmental determinants of health and support individuals in making the behavioral changes that can prevent the onset of chronic disease and intervene in its progression. Based on analysis of in-depth, qualitative interviews with elder Black women (n = 13), this article examines the experiences and perspectives of participants in Fit Around the Farm, an innovative, farm-based, multicomponent health promotion program in Boston, MA. Drawing on their narratives, we describe how the program supports participants’ health and well-being by improving food access and nutrition, increasing physical activity (and capacity for physical activity), creating a supportive community oriented to wellness, and providing access to safe and culturally resonant green space. This analysis suggests that community based urban farms offer a compelling site for multicomponent health promotion programs for Black elders in urban communities, a structurally disadvantaged population at risk for chronic disease.

Keywords

• Chronic disease
• Elders
• Green space
• Health equity
• Health promotion
• Urban agriculture