PLoS ONE (Jan 2020)

A qualitative exploration of cardiovascular disease patients' views and experiences with an eHealth cardiac rehabilitation intervention: The PATHway Project.

  • Orlagh O'Shea,
  • Catherine Woods,
  • Lauri McDermott,
  • Roselien Buys,
  • Nils Cornelis,
  • Jomme Claes,
  • Véronique Cornelissen,
  • Anne Gallagher,
  • Helen Newton,
  • Niall Moyna,
  • Noel McCaffrey,
  • Davide Susta,
  • Clare McDermott,
  • Ciara McCormack,
  • Werner Budts,
  • Kieran Moran

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235274
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 7
p. e0235274

Abstract

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The aim of this study is to explore participants' views and experiences of an eHealth phase 3 cardiac rehabilitation (CR) intervention: Physical Activity Towards Health (PATHway). Sixty participants took part in the PATHway intervention. Debriefs were conducted after the six-month intervention. All interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analysed with Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis. Forty-four (71%) debriefs were conducted (n = 34 male, mean (SD) age 61 (10) years). Five key themes were identified: (1) Feedback on the components of the PATHway system, (2) Motivation, (3) Barriers to using PATHway, (4) Enablers to using PATHway, and (5) Post programme reflection. There were a number of subthemes within each theme, for example motivation explores participants motivation to take part in PATHway and participants motivation to sustain engagement with PATHway throughout the intervention period. Participant engagement with the components of the PATHway system was variable. Future research should focus on optimising participant familiarisation with eHealth systems and employ an iterative approach to development and evaluation.