“The ‘yay’ feeling never faded, especially because I felt the improvement”: understanding adherence to a foot strengthening training in older adults through thematic analysis of interviews

Adherence to a foot strengthening program is influenced by factors that change over the course of the intervention. These factors are linked to typical phases encountered consecutively by the participants. The last phase involves the exercises becoming habitual practice, which is, like the second-to-last phase, not reached by every participant. This timeline and the influencing factors offer professionals a tool to approach individuals appropriately to maximize adherence to a foot strengthening program. It also guides the development of similar interventions.