Table 1

Participant characteristics

Participant pseudonym	Age group (years)	Gender	Primary reason for referral	Source of referral	Self-reported PA history	Employment status	Participation status*	Overarching theme
Alice	70+	Female	CVD secondary prevention	Cardiac rehabilitation	Previously very active, enjoyed PA	Retired	Adherer	Success
Amy	20–29	Female	Overweight/obesity	Primary care	Previously active, enjoyed PA	Home-maker	Adherer
Julie	50–59	Female	Overweight/obesity	Primary care	Previously very active, enjoyed PA	Employed	Adherer
Patricia	60–69	Female	Overweight/obesity	Primary care	Previously active, enjoyed PA	Retired	Adherer
Brian	60–69	Male	CVD secondary prevention	Cardiac rehabilitation	Previously active, enjoyed PA	Retired	Adherer	Struggle
Margaret	60–69	Female	Mental health	Primary care	Intermittently active, enjoyed PA but hated sport	Retired	Dropout
Peter	50–59	Male	CVD secondary prevention	Cardiac rehabilitation	Previously active, enjoyed PA	Unemployed	Adherer
Paul	50–59	Male	Overweight/obesity	Primary care	Previously active, enjoyed PA	Receiving disability benefit	Medically excluded	Defeat
Jackie	40–49	Female	Overweight/obesity	Primary care	Previously inactive, disliked PA	Carer	Non-attender
Dorothy	60–69	Female	Musculoskeletal	Primary care	Previously inactive, disliked PA	Retired	Dropout
Dan	50–59	Male	Mental health	Primary care	Previously active, enjoyed PA	Employed	Dropout (health reason)

*Medically excluded: attended initial consultation but was excluded from scheme participation due to medical reasons (physiological measures above scheme acceptance guidelines for example, blood pressure ≥180/100 mm Hg or resting heart rate ≥100 beats per minute).
Adherer: attended initial consultation and informed researcher that they were still attending exercise sessions.
Dropout: attended initial consultation and some exercise sessions but informed researcher that they had stopped attending.
Non-attender: attended initial consultation, but no exercise sessions.
CVD, cardiovascular disease; PA, physical activity.