Table 3.

Major themes and quotes from interviews

Major themes	Participant quotes	Physiotherapist quotes
Community venue and environment facilitated a positive rehabilitation experience	“It has got a better atmosphere than the one at the hospital” (Male, 77 years) “I think the equipment and the area and being outside the hospital is better for people” (Female, 68 years) “It is a very nice atmosphere to work in. So you are not just shut up in a blank wall, you can look out over the park and see what is going on outside, and it is lovely … they also have televisions up on the wall and that sort of thing … it is a very nice environment” (Female, 68 years) “Yes there is a lot of choice, what you can do. So I think it is very good, because it can be very basic for those who are very ill and weak. They can do it on a very low level, or you can do it on a more intense level. The variety is very good. I did things that I have never done before” (Female, 68 years)	“It is good to get out of the hospital setting and see the real-world setting and seeing these people exercising in the community in that way” (Physiotherapist 1) “They were probably doing more exercise than they might do at one of the hospital venues that is setup for older people … rather than only having a few options for them … flexibility to be able to vary people’s programs, try different things with them” (Physiotherapist 1)
Convenience of accessing the community venue	“Easier parking, easier access, it was closer” (Male, 77 years) “(Main reason for choosing community venue was) proximity and parking availability with no cost” (Female, 71 years) “You just cannot park anywhere over at the hospital, unless you go to the parking area and that is really expensive” (Female, 85 years) “I would not have done two days (at the hospital), I probably would have done one. It is a great program, but when it is at the hospital it is just so difficult” (Female, 72 years)	“The fact they could just park outside and have a short walk in, they were more confident, they were not getting anxious about the parking, because some of them do get quite anxious, just the idea of I have got to park, then I have got to walk, but they knew what was going to happen at the community venue” (Physiotherapist 2) “They were less fatigued when they got there” (Physiotherapist 3) “The whole concept of access to the facility was a thing that made them attend more” (Physiotherapist 2)
Normalizing and transference of behaviors	“Because it is a ‘gym’ gym, most of the other people there were young rather than a hospital environment” (Female, 68 years) “There were other people using the gym, younger people. Really fitness fanatics … we sort of fitted in quite well … the venue was absolutely perfect” (Female, 72 years)	“They got to see some other people their own age who were just coming to use the gym independently, so they could see other older people exercising” (Physiotherapist 3) “It was not as institutionalized. It made the patients feel more that they were training as opposed to doing some treatment … it makes them feel like they are less sick” (Physiotherapist 2) “What I really enjoyed about it … it is real life. In our society people go to the gym. So it is a sort of fostering that within them and giving them the opportunity to go outside a hospital setting into a community setting … so they are not so institutionalized by coming back in and doing their program at the hospital” (Physiotherapist 1) “They were more confident to actually be in a gym environment because they have come to a community gym. The fact that we had that little interaction sort of helped other people see, maybe I can come here with my family … one patient is a little bit more confident now so he is looking to get his son to go to another gym so they can go together and he feels confident enough now to be able to do that, whereas before I do not know whether he would have been as confident going to the hospital gym … it is a clinical setting” (Physiotherapist 2)
Barriers to post-program exercise	“Honestly and truly, you do not do the same things when you have not got to do them … whereas if I have got to do it myself I think ‘Oh, I do not think I will go for a walk today’” (Female, 72 years) “I would not keep on doing, I would not you know keep on going to the gym. I think I am too old. Old to be coming to the gym all the time” (Female, 85 years) “I think it is expensive to join the club. But I would not do that, because I am not interested in going to the gym all the time” (Female, 85 years)	“They are not able to get motivated to go to the gym and do their own program, even though they know it very well … they are able to set up their equipment, get on and off the equipment by themselves, use it correctly. It was just that motivation of getting to the gym” (Physiotherapist 2) “(Main barriers to joining the gym) cost and the commitment … they are not able to commit to the amount of sessions that they deemed to be getting value for money and also the motivation to come to the gym” (Physiotherapist 2) “The main thing is cost … they have other things that they might prioritize and they might think that joining a gym is a luxury compared to say health care costs … so cost I think is probably the main barrier for a lot of the people that go to the pulmonary rehab program because the majority of them are elderly or on a pension” (Physiotherapist 1)