An Integrated Urban Gardens and Peer Nutritional Counseling Intervention to Address Food Insecurity Among People With HIV in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

Food insecurity negatively affects HIV prevention and care, and sustainable interventions are needed. Here we describe the development of an integrated urban gardens and peer nutritional counseling intervention to address food insecurity and nutrition among people with HIV, which included: (1) peer nutritional counseling, (2) gardening training, and (3) garden-based nutrition and cooking workshops. The intervention was developed using community-based participatory research over multiple years and stages of data gathering and implementation and evaluation. Lessons learned include the importance of cross-sectoral partnerships to achieve multifaceted, integrated, and sustainable interventions and a shared commitment among partners to an ongoing cycle of action-oriented research, and the need for home-based and community-based gardens to enhance food security and social support. The development process successfully combined an evidence-based framework and community engagement to yield a multicomponent yet integrated food security and nutrition intervention appropriate for people with HIV and potentially adaptable for other chronic conditions.