Table 2.

Quantitative and qualitative stakeholder perspectives on the Acceptability of Be ACTIVE

Quantitative acceptability data		Qualitative themes and representative quotations
Reach	20% of eligible patients joined
Would Recommend program (Patients)	92% of patients would recommend Be ACTIVE to a friend or family member High retention rates: 88% High adherence to wearing the PA tracker: 97 ± 11% (mean ± SD of days the tracker was actually worn)	Support and accountability provided by the coach was invaluable “The most important thing was when you have a real person, when you sluff off on your Fitbit it doesn’t bark at you. (Coach) didn’t bark, but that personal interaction rendered accountability”. (D29) “(Coach) was asking specifically what I wanted to accomplish and how to accomplish that, so it made me stop and think about exactly what I was going to do. It kind of gave me something to motivate me and hold me accountable.” (D34) Valued the Physical Activity (PA) tracker to provide an accountable measure of progress “Before the program I would not walk but now I have a meter and I motivate myself to get up and walk. I don’t have to do it I want to do it.“(D5) Appreciated that clinicians/coaches guided them to be active safely “It was helpful because it reminded you what you should and should not do to be safe and healthy in doing your exercises.” (D70) Many perceived functional improvements and a “healthy aging” mindset as a benefit: “I’m able to move around in the house more. My walks…make me feel good generally.” (D2) “I found that activity helps as opposed to hurt you. Others are like ‘I’m old - I can’t do this.’ Where I’m like, ‘I’m old - I better get out of here and do it.’” (D48) Some perceived benefits of improved overall health/type 2 diabetes (T2D) care: “[I am motivated to be active for] keeping blood sugar at a lower level - it used to jump when I did not walk and did not do any exercise, but I noticed the more I walked the lower my sugar levels would go down and they stayed down.” (D2) “I got off a couple medications since the study started.” (D7)
Would Not Recommend (Patients)	8% of patients	Felt the program was missing more intense exercise training options relevant for them “This program didn’t have what I needed. I needed a physical therapist or a personal trainer. For people who really aren’t doing anything at all, maybe this program would help.” (D6)
Would Recommend program (Coaches and Clinicians)	100% (n = 4 coaches, n = 2 clinicians) would recommend the clinic continue to offer Be ACTIVE	All coaches and clinicians felt that their role of encouraging behavior change (coach) and safety monitoring (clinician) aligned well with their clinical expertise, and was professionally rewarding. “[For] people that have maybe less of a social network to have them achieve their goals… that every two-week call (with me) is a big anchor for them. I think that is rewarding.” (CO2) “We got to build rapport with the patients, we really got to know them. They appreciated our outreach…a lot of our other programs we (were) cold calling patients.” (CO4) “It was all pretty relevant. Stretching, strengthening, step counting - all basics of getting up and moving. Doing it safely and knowing how to prevent an injury. That’s all necessary.” (CL1) Coaches found these 3 themes most beneficial about the program: (1) Overcoming negative perceptions of what “counts” as PA “I had a patient who told me on the first call I hate working out, I don’t want to do it. (I said) taking your grandson on a walk, playing with him at the park can increase your step count. She started loving it, and her attitude from call 1 to call 6 was completely different.” (CO1) “…just trying to broaden the definition of activity (beyond being) in a gym. and heavily sweating… (I would say) no, it can be like walking around the block with your dog….” (CO3) (2) Accountability “…they were happy to report when they did well and a little embarrassed, even though that wasn’t from me, when they didn’t…hit the goal for themselves.” (CO4) (3) PA tracker “raises awareness of current PA levels” “I think the [PA tracker] certainly helped motivate them. It wasn’t just “oh I walked a little bit longer” they could actually see how much…further they walked. (CO2)

PA physical activity; participant coding designated parenthetically after quotes uses D* to designate quotes from a patient; CO* to designate quotes from a coach, and CL* to designate quotes from a clinician.