Table 7 Integration of acceptability findings
Topic/domain | Quantitative findings | Qualitative findings | Level of consensus | Key interpretations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Protocol — virtual delivery | (Liam, SHA) — “I mean, it works and it doesn’t impinge on your day, as it were. If I was coming up to you, it’s an hour to you and an hour back again, so that would be a morning gone. Whereas doing it this way, it’s an hour roughly, 45 min or whatever, and then you get back and you’re at home and you get on with doing what you want to do. And that really worked, I thought.” (Jack, SHA) — “I think in the past couple of years we’re doing the same thing for everything. We’re in front of a screen now and you just become… like, again, more normalised. It’s not much different, really, I suppose.” (Luke, SHA) — “I suppose turn on the camera, do your thing, 40 min later you go and get on with the rest of your day – not two hours later you get on with the rest of your day, or two and a half hours later you can get on with the rest of the day. I mean, even for me to get to the Royal Free, it’s 45 min or something – get to the station… or if I drive, even… So, that’s an hour and a half each way, maybe. This is obviously more convenient.” (Adam, SHA) — “face-to-face is better, in that you get much… Certainly the personal face-to-face session, you really… You can’t convey the full physicality of what you’re doing on a Teams call.” | Silence in quantitative data | Virtual delivery acceptable, it although remained a desire for option of face to face in combination | |
Protocol — exercises | (Liz, Physiotherapist) — “But I think just that general conditioning and general fitness was something that was quite… it was within everybody. I think so many people who we see have not been able to do what they want to do because of pain or for whatever reason haven’t pushed themselves. So, I think it fits when it’s very generalised.” (Carl, SHA) — “We had tailored it more to just to some… They were still doing a couple of the other movements because… you know, it’s good to get you panting and your heart rate up, so we were doing some of the other ones which was good as well. But by the end of it we were doing more targeted stuff for my… you know, for my ankle.” (Adam, SHA) — “I think six weeks is just about right. It allows people to learn as they go along. It allows for the odd session that you have to miss. So, it’s a good length of time. I’m happy enough with that.” (Mark, SHA) — “Thirty second rest between each… I’m not sure what the right… set, between each set. The two minutes between each exercise, each set of exercises, I felt was probably a bit long. You could probably get away with a minute, or a minute and a half. Some of us were sort of twiddling our thumbs a bit for two minutes.” | Silence in quantitative data | Exercises were acceptable, particularly because it permitted alterations to fit ability As weeks progressed, some identified that they would have preferred a more specific single joint programme as well | |
Protocol — knowledge and discussion sessions | Only one site completed the knowledge and discussion sessions as described | (Hugh, SHA) — “It didn’t… well, it didn’t actually happen, really. I think there were technical issues and also when I was going to join them I think… well, basically no one else was left.” (Liam, SHA) — “The slides were interesting as well because it just kind of gives you a reminder of what you’re doing and what to look out for and that kind of thing. And knowing your limits and then perhaps after a few weeks just trying to push those limits” (Luke, SHA) — “I can’t dismiss it because I’m sure that there were moments in each PowerPoint where it was like ‘yes’. And even if that’s a personal back of the head ‘yes’ and you’re identifying with something, so you’re feeling this person gets it, that’s very valuable. I don’t think any of it was revelatory.” (Hugh, SHA) – “I still struggle with the pacing because if it feels good then I think, “Well, I’m ok now.” But I’m starting to realise now that it’s not necessarily the case. But the pacing was good. And understanding different types of pain was definitely good” | Discrepancy | Unclear if knowledge and discussion sessions in current form are acceptable due to only one group completing them The sessions did not enhance the experience of taking part |
Outcome measures used | (Carl, SHA) – “I mean, a lot of those surveys do feel, you know, quite kind of generic. And you know, on a scale of 1 to 10… I bet they differ every time I fill them out. You know, I think about that every time when I’m filling them out and go, “God, what did I put last time and is it different?” (Luke, SHA) – “Some of them I had to answer… like, “How did you feel in the last 24 h?” “I felt shit. I wasn’t able to walk,” kind of thing. Whereas that wasn’t really a picture of the last three months. It does squeeze you into answering in a particular way which might not be relevant on the whole.” (Adam, SHA) – “They weren’t precise enough. I mean, they were sort of flopsy questions, really.” | Silence in quantitative data | Time to complete PROMs was acceptable PROMs had limited value to participants, reported as lacking specificity to them, their condition and their experience | |
Enjoyment | (Dan, Physiotherapist)—“I think it was… like, from the start, from quite early, it seemed like there was… it felt like a positive thing. So, it felt enjoyable for me and I got the sense from the participants that they were enjoying it and benefiting from it as well. So, it made it an enjoyable experience.” (Luke, SHA) – “It was very useful, it was very beneficial. I could see a need for it, I could see a desire for it, even if the person is not necessarily aware of the desire for it. I felt good doing it. I’m glad you did it and I’m glad I was able to be part of it.” (Jack, SHA) – “I felt really relaxed. I didn’t have to think about… concern about anything. But in a different situation with different people, then you wouldn’t be able… you always think about “I’m different to them”. And definitely, it makes you just relax a lot more and just get on. Definitely you feel more enjoyable doing it.” | Silence in quantitative data | High degree of acceptability was associated with high level of enjoyment Seeing others like them, and exercises individualised to them promoted enjoyment | |
Motivation | (Hugh, SHA) – “it was good to take part and it’s helped me, I think, get more confident and get out of… I think there was a little rut and I think that should help me stay out of it and get a bit more consistent with some of these exercises. So, it was good to take part, yes.” (John, SHB) – “I think my plan is that… Because I’ve got an exercise bike that I kind of go on, so I thought if I did alternate days, one day on the bike and one day running through those exercises – that would be the plan, anyway – I’d do that.” | Silence in quantitative data | Positive influence on motivation with increased confidence to do more and make plans for further exercise activity |