Retail Food Environment Intervention Planning: Interviews With Owners and Managers of Small- and Medium-Sized Rural Food Stores.
Retail food environments are an important setting for promoting healthier diets and reducing the global burden of diet-related disease. The purpose of this 2-year community-university partnership was to develop a health promotion intervention for stores in a rural and remote region of British Columbia, Canada. This article reports on the qualitative interviews that were conducted with retail operators as part of an intervention planning process. Seven in-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with store owners and managers of small- and medium-sized stores in a rural and remote region. Interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify business operations and practices relevant to intervention planning and implementation. Relevant considerations for health promotion planners included the unique business models of rural stores; the prominence of regional travel and "outshopping" in rural and remote regions; challenges balancing between choice, value, and profitability; relationships with suppliers; and using local products to attract and retain customers. Involving retailers in settings-based approaches to improve population nutrition may help to mobilize existing practices and ensure that interventions are responsive to local context.
['Hasdell|Rebecca|R|0000-0003-1162-5535', 'Poland|Blake|B|', 'Cole|Donald|D|', 'Sheppard|Flo|F|', 'Burton|Laurel|L|', 'Mah|Catherine L|CL|0000-0002-7294-2035']
D001955:British Columbia D003132:Commerce D000072001:Diet, Healthy D005502:Food D005523:Food Supply D006293:Health Promotion D006801:Humans D012424:Rural Population
nutrition chronic disease community assessment community intervention environmental and systems change health research program planning and evaluation qualitative research rural health