Table 4.

Breakdown of how categories and sub-categories were operationalized and organized with supporting quotes.

Category	Sub-Category	Supporting Quotes
1. SOAR satisfies an unmet need This category depicts the perceived value, demand, and acceptability of the program. It supports that the structure of SOAR (i.e., program components) does facilitate self-care by promoting knowledge about knee health and self-efficacy for independent exercise behaviour.	Design met needs of participants -supports the structure/components of SOAR are acceptable	“Overall, it's a ten out of ten. [laughs] It was great. Going in I wasn't sure how it was going to be, but I feel it was a very, like supportive role in terms of, you know, holding me accountable to doing my exercises. Also educating me about my knee more. Especially that first session, that was great cause I learned a lot from that.” (P15) “The ability to meet up with a physio without having to drive somewhere was really, really helpful. The knee camp totally fine online and getting to meet each other in breakout rooms and then coming back, I think that actually works better than being in-person. I think people are a little more confident with talking through Zoom than if we were all in-person in a big group setting.” (P12)
	Motivation to join SOAR -identifies pre-program motivations and the type of participants who enrolled in the SOAR program	“You know I have nothing else to do at the moment [due to COVID], [SOAR was an] opportunity to work on my knee, which was great; free physio – you know that was really cool. Fitbit, I still wear it.” (P06). “I genuinely am concerned about getting arthritis, especially like early onset sort of osteoarthritis … So that was kind of one of the things I was just hoping that [SOAR] could give me something to put in the back of my head for the next whatever 10, 20 years; to make sure that I implement certain things into my lifestyle to ensure that I don't have that sort of early onset arthritis.” (P04)
2. Regaining control of knee health This category expresses participants' experience of feeling empowered to manage their knee health. This involved changing perceptions towards their knee health and promoting autonomy and self-efficacy.	Education helps change perceptions on knee health -highlights the importance of informational support in the program	“It was very informative in terms of like explaining, you know, what is important in making sure your knee is healthy. And just like long term goals that you're supposed to assign for yourself and how to do that.” (P15) “So the knowledge piece was a huge one for me, and then like I said too, I feel I have the tools and what I need to do in the future.” (P02) “I really enjoyed [Knee Camp]. I thought it was incredibly informative, and as I previously mentioned, it gave me so much motivation to invest in the SOAR program, and invest in my knee health knowing, you know facts about OA and what it really was.” (P16)
	Gradual building of autonomy -describes participants experience with the BAP technique, goal-setting	“[Goal-setting] was good. It was, the study PT didn't leave it all up to me, but didn't just tell me what I had to do. So it was, it was a nice, nice mix of ‘okay so what do you want to get out of this? Okay so what do you want to do?‘ … So I just found it really, really helpful.” (P08) “I was definitely surprised that it was more me picking exercises I wanted to do. I was expecting more to be like told … I think it was definitely beneficial to do it yourself because it kind of teaches you how to [pick exercises], once you're done [the] study.” (P14) “I'm also looking to the study PT, as much as I want flexibility. I'm also looking to the physio as a guide. So maybe a little bit more guiding in terms of the solutions, and here's what I think would be good for your knee … And I get that the study PT wanted me to be part of the process, but every once in a while, I just felt it was just me. I feel like I was the one giving the exercises, right? So I would like some, some more leadership I guess, in that sense … I don't know just ask, in terms of like ‘oh do you – do you want my advice?’ … But yeah just ask, ‘do you mind if I butt in or do you mind if I give you another idea, or my opinion of that or how you can improve that?’ Just more simple things like that I guess.” (P09)
	Changes experienced from the program -reports participants noticing meaningful change in physical (e.g., symptom relief), and/or psychological domains (e.g., improved confidence and changes in perceptions toward exercising)	“I can run, it didn't hurt, and I could [now] do the [PT] exercises … By the end of the four weeks, there was no pain behind the kneecap anymore … there was less crunching … It was really cool, in four weeks, I mean [4 weeks]'s nothing, and what, 45 ​min a week basically.” (P08) “I'm less afraid to kind of do stuff, and I'm less likely to just sit on my ass for the week and do nothing, because I know that it’s actually – now that I know scientifically that its actually good for me to continue to move. I think that's been probably the thing I've taken from this program.” (P04) “I am continuing being more diligent with my exercises than I ever was before the study. [laughs] And I feel like I'm more empowered to do things for this left leg. And I have a plan so that's what I'm doing to boost confidence, just using it more, but using it in a way that I know I can do.” (P10) “There definitely is a way that I'll differ in the way that I manage my knee injury. Cause earlier when I got injured there was just a lot of uncertainty about what to do. But now it's like, ‘okay I have to keep moving, for osteoarthritis.” (P07)
	Feeling hopeful towards the future -outlines the mindset/optimism participants felt when speaking of their general experience of the program	“I'm really grateful to have been a part of [SOAR] and to have received the information I have; and gotten the tools that I have from it. I think it would be extremely valuable for anybody else going [through this with] their knee. I wish that I had, had something like this ten years ago when I was still going through so much, and [the knee injury] was still so new and scary, and discouraging. I think something like this would have been really beneficial.” (P01) “They made it very easy for us, you know, force us to think about our knee health and make it a priority. So that's a good thing that I participated in this study, because without it, I don't think I would be where I'm at right now.” (P15) “Yeah I think definitely made me feel in charge of my knee health again, and that I kind of know what to do and I feel I also just have resources available to me, if something goes wrong or if I don't know what I'm doing, which was a big thing. And I just again, feel I'm not just doing it on my own, I just have more resources available now, and kind have some clearer guidelines of how to get to my goals.” (P03)
Social support encourages exercise participation This category outlines how the support received from the study PTs, research team, or other program participants impacted participants' exercise adherence. This involved creating a supportive environment, providing accountability, and having a shared injury experience to help promote exercise adherence.	Creating a shared injury experience -describes the importance of meeting and connecting with participants and other research members	“I think it just the social aspect of it, makes people more inclined to do the work, as well, and realizing they're not the only one doing it. So I think that's true with most exercise and that's why people like going to the gym because there's other people there and they're like, ‘I'm not the only one that has to work out all the time to keep fit, these other people are doing it too,’ so yeah.” (P11) “We all went around and we talked about how we hurt ourselves, or what is our best winter sports and all that; get to know people. That was nice, I liked that. But yeah it [was] nice to hear how other people hurt themselves, not in a sadistic way, but just you know share, feel some comradery.” (P09) “I really like the weekly classes, I liked that you come together as a group and you're going through it all together, and you're learning a little bit about people's stories along the way. And I'm definitely more motivated in a group setting than when I'm just doing them on my own. I liked variety of workouts, I liked the vibe. I really liked them.” (P01)
	Accountability promotes exercise engagement -reports on the value of weekly PT counselling	“I think for me its motivation and accountability [with the weekly PT visits]. And it's just having someone being like ‘hey you're doing a great job, what you're experiencing is normal, you know. Here are some tips to keep improving in the following week, and like keep going.’” (P01) “Felt like [the weekly PTs visits] are needed; they definitely were helpful. ‘Cause seeing people, someone on a weekly basis, like if you do lose track, cause I feel like if I didn't see the study PT on a weekly basis, I would have in the second week, the compliance would go down a lot in terms of doing the physio exercises and doing physical activity.” (P07)
	Creating a supportive environment -details the interactions across the SOAR program that extended beyond just exercising	“And obviously my study PT and I have had, like made this great relationship, which I've really, really enjoyed, and I feel that like I would say my physio experiences before haven't been so personal. And like it's always been about rugby and my knee, opposed to this more holistic approach where it's like all these things involved; and we've talked very openly about that which I've enjoyed.” (P16) “I think that was extremely important to have that one-on-one time and to know that you could ask any questions about [anything], and it was just focused on your health, and yeah that was really important I think. And I'm assuming all the physiotherapists are like this, but my physiotherapist was very much like ‘you're doing a great job, or this is great, or I'm so proud that you're doing this thing’ or whatever. And I think that positive reinforcement for people, it just goes a really long way.” (P11)
Program refinements and barriers This category describes suggested refinements to help meet the needs of future participants. The most common suggestion was a hybrid program to allow for more social connection with PTs and/or program participants and use of self-tracking tools (refer to Table 5 for more details).	Suggestions and improvements -outlines ideas to improve the program	“I just have basically nothing but good things to say about it, and I loved it, and yeah the only complaint is that it should have been longer.” (P11)
	Tracking only helped some with motivation and accountability -describes participants' experiences with self-tracking tools in the program	“I felt like [the Fitbit] also just kind of kept me accountable, like it kind of it – it shows like how many minutes you're active and so it was almost like a challenge for me to be like I'm going to like complete it all today. Or like I'm going to get all my steps in, and so yeah I felt like it was kind of like a good motivator.” (P03) “I mean mostly I find the accuracy of it is just like the steps, so that's like mostly what I used it for … I guess I would prefer to use a Fitbit with [a] heartrate or something on it, cause then it would [pick up] you actually working out at this time.’” (P10) “[TeleHab] was fine, I wouldn't say it was great, I wouldn't say it was terrible. It was just whatever, it was good. I'm glad there was an app. I liked that there was an app, it was nice to – you know refer [to it] in the gym … So I enjoyed that aspect, but I wouldn't, not giving it a gold star.” (P06) “[I felt] it wasn't necessarily … It was just kind of like I remembered what [my exercises were], and I kind of almost forgot about [the app], that it was there, that I could record what I'm doing if I wanted the study PT to see.” (P07) “I didn't really like the App and I didn't want to have to go into the app to record that I was doing the exercises.” (P04)
	Barriers to the program -identifies any barriers to consider going forward	“I mean, I guess its maybe a question to you of how effective [the knee assessment] actually is, like just seeing me do movement as opposed to like actually manually like being there and getting to touch my knee.” (P03) “I really liked the – the group session, it just didn't always work well for me, from a timing front.” (P02)