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Table 2 Semi structured interview schedule

From: Do practitioners and friends support patients with coronary heart disease in lifestyle change? a qualitative study

Background and the study

Overall, what did you think of the Sphere study?

In terms of the management of your heart disease, was it conducted any differently during the study than before the study began or after it ended?

What did you think of the visits you made to the study nurse (every 4 months) and the idea of setting goals and targets to change your exercise and diet?

The Patient Information Booklet

What did you think of the booklet? In what way did it affect your motivation for change? How often did you refer to it? What did you think of the self-completion sections in the booklet? How useful were these to you? How could the booklet have been improved?

For those who failed to increase exercise

How much / what exercise do you currently do?

Motivation:

At the beginning of this study: when you set a goal to increase the level of exercise you do, how achievable did you think this goal was? What do you think stopped you from achieving that goal?How much do other worries/issues in your life contribute to a lack of motivation to exercise?

Why did your exercise levels decrease? If you did enjoy exercise in the past, can you remember why?

How do you think you would feel if you were successful in gradually increasing your exercise?

Health beliefs:

How did you feel that doing more exercise would affect your health (physical/mental)?

How do you feel when your doctor tells you that more exercise will be good for your overall health? How much would it mean to you to feel better in your overall health?

For those who increased level of exercise

How much / what exercise do you currently do? Before the study, how much exercise did you do? How did you increase your levels of exercise? How did you maintain that level?

How did you overcome previous barriers to exercising more?

How does doing more exercise make you feel? (physically, mentally)

For those who failed to improve fibre intake

Motivation:

When you set a goal during this study to increase your fibre intake/fruit and vegetables, how achievable did you believe this goal was? When you tried to make the change, what do you think stopped you from achieving it?

Health beliefs:

When your doctor/nurse explained that improving your diet would benefit your overall health, how motivated did that make you feel?

When it came to actually trying to achieve your goal, to what extent did you believe it would have real benefits?

For those who improved fibre intake

What changes did you make to your diet? When you decided to make changes to your diet, did you believe that you could achieve this and maintain the changes?

Why do you think you succeeded in making changes? How easy or difficult was it to make the changes, in terms of finding healthier food in the shops and buying it (more expensive, less or no difference)?