Table 3.

Categories, subcategories, and citations representing the content of the focus group interviews

Categories	Subcategories	Examples of citations
Limited practice experience	Current practice with cancer survivors	“We who are sitting here, think that we have hardly met….them, unless they have got an appointment for something else, and then it turns out that it is…..(cancer related)” (15)..
	Different or similar?	“Well, I think that they are special in that they have been through a rough (cancer) treatment…that they are impacted by that treatment in many ways… So you can take care of them the same way you as other patients, they will just have a more difficult position in their personal life…” (26).
	Red flags	“If I get a patient who has had a breast cancer and treat her for a pain in her neck, then I will treat her like any other patient…of course one always should keep the possibility of a relapse in mind…But you cannot assume that just because you have a pain in the neck region that the cancer is metastasizing” (6).
Uncertainty	Professional doubts	“If it had been another type of patient, you’d feel that you could handle it, but as soon as it’s about cancer, you get uncertain, because you have not any knowledge” (34).
	Physical advice for cancer survivors: why, who and how?	“I think it’s above all the patient’s own responsibility….and there is nothing specific about it, that one should reach this dose of exercise regardless of health or disease, just like everybody else. I think. The patients we see feel a bit worse and are in a worse state, and then it needs to be individually adapted….and then they may not be able to reach this….but that’s the advice we give to everyone…that these are recommendations for the general population” (8).
	Feelings of inadequacy	“I sometimes did not know what to do to help her (a young patient with a serious condition, author’s comment) properly…She was so severely afflicted…and it will never heal… I find that..in cases like this…one may feel a bit vulnerable” (32).
Being part of a network	Cooperation within the clinic	“Our rooms are next-door to each other, and the minute we go outside…and we have breaks together, so…it’s easy. It does not happen all the time, but it’s possible” (23)..
	Finding the way in the system	“If something is odd …..or if I would like a second opinion..an examination of a neck…something more serious..I call the doctor at the primary care unit” (9).
	Need of specialist	“The physiotherapist at the oncology department also has outpatient care, so I do not know, when they stop going there…who helps them later on…” (26). “If it’s just general physical activity advice, we rely on the (specialist unit in the) hospital” (12). “I think that there should be a group that specializes a bit in …taking care of these patients in a good way” (5). “These diseases are so diverse, and new treatments develop so fast…even the medical experts do not seem to know everything” (35).

The three categories and nine subcategories are representing the meaning units of the content of the central message of the focus group interviews. Examples of citations within each category are given. The data is presented confidentially; the code (code 1–48) represent the code number of the participant