Effects of biodiversity-rich community gardens on health and biological diversity in municipalities: The cluster randomized HEBEDI trial

Effects of biodiversity-rich community gardens on health and biological diversity in municipalities: The cluster randomized HEBEDI trial - HEBEDI

Status

Recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

DRKS

Registry ID

DRKS00036140

Enrollment

800

Registered

2025-06-27

Start date

2025-07-02

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2025-10-06

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Health promotion

Interventions

Group 1: Biodiversity-rich community gardens: The following intervention components support the participatory development and implementation of biodiversity-rich community gardens by garden groups: 1)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: none

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: none

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale, PSS-10)	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Subjectively assessed outcomes: - General health status (based on German Health Update, GEDA) - Dietary diversity (adapted food frequency questionnaire) - Depression & Anxiety (Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ-4) - Loneliness (UCLA Three-Item Loneliness Scale, UCLA-3) - Resilience (Brief Resilience Scale, BRS) - Quality of life (EUROHIS-QOL 8-item index) - Social cohesion (based on Social Cohesion Panel 2021) - Attention restoration (Perceived Restorativeness Scale, PRS-11) - Connection with nature (Connection with Nature Scale, CN-12) - Pro-environmental behavior (adapted from General Ecological Behavior Scale, GEB-50 & Private-sphere Environmentalism Scale) - Approval of environmental policies (Environmental Policy Approval Scale, EPAS) - Perceived biodiversity (items developed by the research team) Objectively assessed outcomes: - Objectively assessed stress (cortisol/cortison concentration in hair, analysis using mass spectrometry LC-MS/MS) - Physical activity (assessed with accelerometers, ActiGraph wGT3X-BT) - Sedentary behavior (assessed with accelerometers, ActiGraph wGT3X-BT) - Sleep quality (assessed with accelerometers, ActiGraph wGT3X-BT) Measurement intervals of primary & secondary outcomes: 3 measurements: Baseline = start of first gardening season, Follow-up 1 = end of first gardening season, Follow-up 2 = end of second gardening season; except for Attention restoration (only Follow-up 1 & 2) and objectively assessed stress (in total, 6 measurements between Baseline and Follow-up 2)	—

Measure

Time frame

Subjectively assessed outcomes: - General health status (based on German Health Update, GEDA) - Dietary diversity (adapted food frequency questionnaire) - Depression & Anxiety (Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ-4) - Loneliness (UCLA Three-Item Loneliness Scale, UCLA-3) - Resilience (Brief Resilience Scale, BRS) - Quality of life (EUROHIS-QOL 8-item index) - Social cohesion (based on Social Cohesion Panel 2021) - Attention restoration (Perceived Restorativeness Scale, PRS-11) - Connection with nature (Connection with Nature Scale, CN-12) - Pro-environmental behavior (adapted from General Ecological Behavior Scale, GEB-50 & Private-sphere Environmentalism Scale) - Approval of environmental policies (Environmental Policy Approval Scale, EPAS) - Perceived biodiversity (items developed by the research team) Objectively assessed outcomes: - Objectively assessed stress (cortisol/cortison concentration in hair, analysis using mass spectrometry LC-MS/MS) - Physical activity (assessed with accelerometers, ActiGraph wGT3X-BT) - Sedentary behavior (assessed with accelerometers, ActiGraph wGT3X-BT) - Sleep quality (assessed with accelerometers, ActiGraph wGT3X-BT) Measurement intervals of primary & secondary outcomes: 3 measurements: Baseline = start of first gardening season, Follow-up 1 = end of first gardening season, Follow-up 2 = end of second gardening season; except for Attention restoration (only Follow-up 1 & 2) and objectively assessed stress (in total, 6 measurements between Baseline and Follow-up 2)

—

Countries

Germany

Contacts

Public ContactMichael Eichinger

Universität Heidelberg, Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim, Zentrum für Präventivmedizin und Digitale Gesundheit

michael.eichinger@medma.uni-heidelberg.de+49 621 383-71837

Outcome results

None listed

Source: DRKS (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026