Table 4.

Representative quotes from participant and health care provider interviews

Theme	Quote
Access to care	“Our clinic usually struggles with issues of having enough rooms, so the option of virtual care gives us some more clinic space in a way. I think it’ll solve our issue of clinic space which means we can see more patients or hire more staff and allow our program to grow.” (HCP, occupation therapist) “My acceptance to virtual care has allowed me to see people with very strong barriers to rehabilitation such as those with mobility issues or who live far away.” (HCP, physiatrist) “We have to think about whether we should keep this as an option because maybe I won’t have as easy access to downtown hospitals, but I want to maintain my relationship with my doctors and other providers. This would be an amazing source to rely on until together as a team, you decide on when an in-person appointment would be necessary.” (P08) “Virtual helped me get the care I needed while managing my kids. The convenience was important. If I had to go downtown, I would have to think of a lot of different things to plan my day with the kids and travel. The convenience of it was very helpful.” (P09)
Meeting support needs	“The benefit is that we can still connect with patients and they seem to really appreciate that we can speak with them. We can still build a therapeutic relationship with patients and still provide some sort of connection and opportunity to check in. So, I think that has been working well. I think we actually have been needed more now as many other points of connection may have stopped.” (HCP, occupation therapist) “I think it would be helpful to tell patients what to expect for the virtual visit. So, like a module or link on how to make the most out of the visit. Giving them steps like arriving five minutes before the visit, test the camera and audio, wear clothes for exercise, bring any equipment they have. Also, continuing to communicate the expectations of the visit and that there are going to be limitations for what we can assess virtually.” (HCP, physiotherapist) “I feel I got really great guidance. I feel continued to be cared for. If I need support or more understanding because something changes, I feel like I could reach out and I can get help. And with the continued uncertainty in the world, it might be necessary to be virtual for the next year. So, it feels really good moving forward.” (P02) “I feel blessed for this opportunity. I was given the confidence to manage my wellness, and needed support during a pandemic. You can feel like you’re still working towards something that is going to help you. I think it has made an improvement in my physical and mental life. I had tools that were able to help me handle the cancer and the COVID situation.” (P04)
Confidence with assessment and care plan	“Assessing range of motion is okay for upper extremities, but sometimes people don’t have that mobility with their camera to show their whole body or a good distance from the camera. It’s hard to get a good visual of their lymphedema unless the swelling is quite pronounced and visible. Also, often we’re doing this over the phone, where I can only go by patient description about their mobility, strength, and lymphedema.” (HCP, physiotherapist) “We also have an app we use where patients see the videos and instructions of the exercises, and they can message us on that if they have questions. Through that, we can also share our screen and show them the videos on the app and show the videos and talk it through with them. This makes it easier to teach the exercises and build rapport.” (HCP, kinesiologist) “I might have the language to be able to describe what I’m feeling, but the majority might not be able to. So, for someone who doesn’t know a lot about the body and can’t see or tell if something bad is going on, then you’re relying on self-description and they may not describe it well or accurately. Not being able to have a someone go and feel my armpit for example and feel what’s swollen, or even look at it well is a problem because you can’t visibly see something like that well on a screen.” (P06) “The worry about the care not being very personalized was removed right away during the first appointment because I could see [the health care provider], they could see me, and we could communicate with each other. I didn’t really know how I was going to be able to say a certain exercise was not okay for me because you can’t do an exercise in front of someone virtually. It just doesn’t work for me or them actually. So, the video of the exercises were shown to me during the appointment and everything was explained to me so well that it removed all my worries and made it easy.” (P11)

Abbreviation: P, participant.