Table III.
Themes and verbatim extracts from the qualitative evaluation
| Emergent themes | Verbatim extracts |
|---|---|
| Did not feel isolated when participating in a disease-management program | “Going to the course introduced me to a lot of people just like me. The experience was fabulous. I appreciated being accepted into the class. I figure if they can do it, then so can I.” (P) |
| “It really gave me comfort to know there were other people in the same situation I was.” (P) | |
| “I met a lot of nice people; it was good for us, it was good for me.” (P) | |
| “I think his (pt) overall mental picture improved because he knows that there are other people that have the same disease.” (CP) | |
| “You recognize you aren’t the only one that has a problem.” (P) | |
| “There’s such camaraderie when you go through something like that and you’re all facing the same problems.” (P) | |
| “First and foremost, it’s always good to be around people that have the same illness who share the same concerns, your same fears, your same outlook, what is to be perceived in the future for yourself, everybody comes from different aspects of life, different ages, and the opportunity is there to express your innermost feelings or figure out how you can address your issues in life.” (P) | |
| “Well, originally when I first became ill, I felt very isolated and when I went to the PRISIM I saw other people in the same condition and even worse, and I felt really good because I had companions or people that knew what my problem was.” (P) | |
| “Beneficial to be with other people that had IPF.” (P) | |
| Able to put individual disease into perspective | “We were told that the disease was very rare, and then to actually come together and see that there were other people with the same disease, was very beneficial.” (CP) |
| “I really didn’t realize how fortunate I was.” (P) | |
| “I just think that it made them not feel sorry for themselves and made them thankful because they’d hear some other people that were a little bit worse, and made them thankful.” (CP) | |
| “When you see other people you think, I’m not so bad.” It just goes to show that you’re not as bad off as you think you are.” (P) | |
| “I have a much better attitude and I’m not afraid, and I’ve learned to live with it. They’ve helped me through the prism program with the depression and learning to live with it and seeing other people and making friends with them and they’re doing fine, so I can do fine.” (P) | |
| Felt that it was important to participate in research to help others with the disease | “Just thought that might be something that could help us and maybe we could help somebody else, too.” (P) |
P, patient statement; CP, care partner statement; PRISIM, Program to Reduce Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Symptoms and Improve Management; IPF, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.