A Mobile Application to Improve Procurement and Distribution of Healthful Foods & Beverages in Baltimore City

Part of paid clinical trials in Baltimore, Maryland.

Sponsor
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Study ID
NCT05010018
Status
Completed

Conditions

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
21 Years - 75 Years
Healthy Volunteers
Accepted

Interventions

  • Web-based application connecting small food store owners and suppliers of healthier foods and beverages — BEHAVIORAL
    The primary intervention is a web-based app that connects small food store owners in low income Baltimore with suppliers of healthier foods and beverages. To reduce costs associated with small purchasing quantities by corner stores, and high delivery charges, the BUD app uses collective purchasing and shared delivery strategies. BUD will be implemented in four stages, where each stage promotes different food/beverage items and introduces new features. The app will be bundled with a small subsidy in stages 1-2 to encourage initial use, increase familiarity with the app and reduce risk. Trainings in the use of the app will take place at the beginning of each phase. BUD will use collective purchasing at stage 2 of implementation (BuddyUp!). The BuddyLift! feature will start in stage 3, enabling small store owners to deliver BuddyUp! deals to other stores for an additional discount. Participating stores and wholesalers will receive point of purchase materials to promote BUD products.

Study Details

Low-income urban communities have many small food stores, but poor access to healthier foods and beverages. The investigators will develop, implement and evaluate the feasibility of a Baltimore Urban food Distribution (BUD) web-based application (app) to improve access to affordable, healthier products from local producers/wholesalers in 38 urban corner stores in low-income Baltimore neighborhoods, using a randomized controlled trial design and assess its impact on store stocking and sales. The R34 will provide a developed and tested version of the BUD app, which will resolve challenges related to affordability and delivery of healthful foods and beverages to small food stores, permit development of new instruments, assess potential impacts at the consumer level, permitting power and sample size estimates for the full-scale clinical trial, and demonstrate the investigators' ability to recruit and retain large numbers of wholesalers, producers, and corner stores in low-income urban settings.

Key Dates

Start date
Oct 29, 2021
Status verified
Dec 2025
Primary completion
Jun 30, 2024
Completion
Jun 30, 2024

Study Design

Enrollment
310 participants (actual)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION

Arms

  • Experimental: Intervention
    We will pilot the BUD app in 19 intervention corner stores over an 8-month period in East Baltimore. During this time, we will collect data from corner store owners, producers, whole salers, and consumers.
  • No Intervention: Control
    We will collect data from 19 control corner stores over the same 8-month period. They will not receive any form of intervention or delay intervention.

Primary Outcome Measure

Change in Stocking of Healthy Foods as Assessed by a Store Impact Questionnaire [ Time Frame: Up to 2 months prior to intervention; up to 2 months post intervention ]

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreMaryland21218-

Find similar trials in Baltimore, MD

By condition
Obesity / overweight
By specialty
EndocrinologyMetabolic healthWeight loss
By research site
Johns Hopkins University· Baltimore, MD

Related Studies