Table 1.

Description of stages of the thematic meta-synthesis process

Stage	Description of analysis process	Participants
1. Coding text	- Inductive, line-by-line coding to capture the meaning and content, keeping the synthesis close to the original text. 138 codes by CHD and 146 codes by SB -Grouping codes into suggestions for preliminary themes (three themes)	CHD and SB separately
	-Check for consistency and interpretation throughout the codes	CHD
2. Developing descriptive themes	- Re-grouping codes into new themes (six themes) -Generating new codes when needed Drafting summary of findings	CHD
3. Generating analytical themes	- Author discussions, comparing and revising themes (six themes became three themes with eight sub themes)	All authors
	-Reorganizing codes under new themes	CHD
	- Theme labels were refined and revised, making sure they reflected the content	All authors