Qualitative insights from an online community-based exercise intervention for persons living with HIV.
Francisco Ibáñez-Carrasco, Kiera McDuff, George Da Silva and 7 others
PMID 40927745WHAT IT FOUND
Participants living with HIV valued online exercise for avoiding stigma and gym costs, but found the technology burdensome and the weekly surveys exhausting.
They preferred home-based comfort over public gyms, yet struggled with webcam privacy concerns and the pressure of constant data collection.
Key findings
01Participants preferred home-based online exercise to avoid the stigma, ageism, and appearance-focused culture of public gyms, finding comfort in exercising without being judged.
02The use of technology created discomfort; participants struggled with the learning curve of Fitbits, technical issues, and the loss of privacy associated with being seen on webcams in their homes.
03Participants experienced survey fatigue and felt pressured by the high frequency of assessments and optional knowledge mobilization activities, which made engagement feel superficial or overly structured.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was small (13 adults living with HIV) and self-selected for engagement, so findings may not apply to those who dropped out or were less involved. Social desirability bias and the Hawthorne effect may have inflated positive reports, as participants knew they were being observed and interviewed by the research team. The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have influenced participants' preferences for home-based exercise and their tolerance for online technologies. Not all participants completed all three interviews, which may have limited the depth of longitudinal data for some individuals.
Declared interests
Funding was provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Ontario HIV Treatment Network, and various chairs and awards for the authors. The authors declare financial support was received for the research and publication.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the participants' engagement with the online exercise program as evidence that the intervention improved physical health outcomes. This was a qualitative study of implementation experiences; it did not measure fitness, disability, or health improvements, and the authors note that engagement may have been superficial due to the burden of assessments.