Table 3.

Analysis using the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability constructs.

Theoretical framework of acceptability: construct	Definition	Participants, n (%)	Code frequency: for	Defining quote	Code frequency: against	Defining quote
Affective attitude	How an individual feels about the intervention	18 (90)	122	“The dietitian was quite competent in answering everything overall over that 18 weeks and I think she just kind of set the groundwork for me and now I kind of know what I need to do to best look after myself.” (Participant 14, 78-year-old male)	12	“It was not important to have any external information about my food and my diet because I knew it myself.” (Participant 13, 71-year-old female)
Burden	The perceived amount of effort required to participate in the intervention	19 (95)	32	“I think really important because you don’t have to go anywhere. You don’t have to look respectable, when it’s going to an appointment for the chemo or for the doctors or oncologists et cetera. Just to have that informal phone call, is great.” (Participant 1, 70-year-old male)	31	“Well, I didn’t really go on the app at all. I’m not really a technical person.” (Participant 18, 72-year-old male)
Ethicality	The extent to which the intervention has a good fit with the individual’s value system	6 (30)	9	“Well, all I can say is that that was very positive. You know, I was more than happy with speaking to [Kate] via the telephone. I didn’t feel as though I needed to sit across the desk from anybody and speak face to face. No, I’m very happy with it, you know, that mode of communication.” (Participant 1, 70-year-old male)	2	“I’m at that age where although I understand computers and I can do just about anything with them, to me there’s nothing better than sitting down and having a face-to-face or a voice-to-voice conversation. So maybe it’s a bit of an age thing with me.” (Participant 7, 68-year-old female)
Intervention coherence	The extent to which the participant understands the intervention and how it works	13 (65)	17	“Primarily it’s support to patients with proper diet and maintaining weight and all that sort of thing.” (Participant 3, 75-year-old female)	6	“I didn’t access anything, I had you or somebody ring me up and we went through the questions verbally on the phone.” (Participant 10, 61-year-old female)
Opportunity costs	The extent to which benefits, profits, or costs must be given up to engage in the intervention	6 (30)	3	“And you know, I made myself available. Otherwise, I was always able to leave her a message. I had her number and was able to leave her a message and you know, we could reconvene at another time.” (Participant 2, 63-year-old male)	3	“I prefer the phone – because I don’t have the time.” (Participant 4, 71-year-old female)
Perceived effectiveness	The extent to which the intervention is perceived as likely to achieve its purpose	17 (85)	120	“Well, like I said, (the dietitian) would send me an email and suggest various things that I can do. And I emailed her and told her what I was doing, and she encouraged me to do those things, because they were important. So, it was a case of between the two of us, we bounced back on each other. And I got what I needed out of it.” (Participant 12, 70-year-old female)	19	“The small steps thing that I was supposed to be filling out, I couldn’t record it every day.” (Participant 16, 61-year-old male)
Self-efficacy	The participant’s confidence that they can perform the behavior(s) required to participate in the intervention	11 (55)	14	“No, it wasn’t a problem, because I’m very tech-savvy, I don’t have a problem with any computer or iPad.” (Participant 8, 73-year-old male)	13	“I’m 80 darling and I would stuff it up.” (Participant 5, 79-year-old male)