Michele Polascek article published in Health Promotion Practice
Michele Polacsek Ph.D., M.H.S., professor of public health and director of the 51小黄车Center for Excellence in Public Health (CEPH), is the senior author of an article recently published in Health Promotion Practice entitled
The study evaluated the implementation of a successful 2-for-1 price incentive for fruits and vegetables, including frozen and canned, that took place in partnership with a large chain grocery retailer in Maine. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) pilot study was conducted in between 2015 and 2016, followed by a larger RCT in 2016 and 2017, to assess whether a supermarket double-dollar fruit and vegetable (F&V) incentive increased purchases of these items.
A convergent, parallel mixed-methods design was used to examine barriers and facilitators to implementing the interventions, using six implementation outcomes: acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, feasibility, implementation fidelity, and perceived cost.
The intervention was deemed highly acceptable, appropriate, and feasible by shoppers, retailers, and researchers, the researchers found, and the F&V discount had a high rate of initial adoption. There was a moderate degree of fidelity, which improved over time based on lessons learned from the pilot and applied to the subsequent RCT.
The research team said there is growing interest in expanding health promotion in the retail setting.
Specific costs associated with implementation from the research perspective are reported, with several implications for practice, policy, and research.
Partnerships between academic researchers and retailers can be an effective model for improving healthful purchases among shoppers, the researchers reported. These findings are relevant for investigators, public health advocates, and retailers interested in implementing similar grocery retail-based interventions, researchers said.