Data collection
After six weeks, interviews were held with participants in
order to gain an insight to their perceived experience of
holistic exercise (for interview guide see online Appendix
B). Semi-structured interviews were selected as the
means to facilitate responses from people with dementia
who have dementia-related difficulties such as memory
retention, difficulty in sustaining concentration and
expressing themselves (Adelman and Daly, 2005). Each
interview was audio taped and lasted for 15e20 min. The
following issues were explored: participants’ expectations
of the holistic exercise programme, perceptions of selfefficacy
in doing the exercises, perceptions of the usability
of the programme, intention of attending the sessions
and opinion about the sessions. Participants were asked the
following questions to encourage them to speak about their
holistic exercise: “Can you tell me about doing the exercises?
Did you have any idea of what the exercises would be
like before you started attending the sessions?”