Table 5 Theme 3: Prior experiences with FES to inform future therapeutic use

3a) What individuals with SCI/D or stroke like about FES

Q28: “But, I trusted the team. I wish I could do it again, I mean it was really helpful, really, really helpful.” (SCI/D1)

Q29: “… the FES I did for a while, I could see the improvement in motion … I could sense sensations in muscles becoming activated and I could tell that I was getting better.” (SCI/D2)

Q30: “I noticed an increase in range of motion, especially leaning forward, leaning to the side, basically it worked well for me. I felt it was really beneficial once I left the program for sure, because it had awakened some muscles.” (SCI/D2)

3b) What therapists liked about FES

Q31: “…lots of the things that we love about it is the ability to truly target multiple muscle groups and engage and produce movement most folks have not experienced for a really long time.” (PT2)

Q32: “And, then again as a therapist, sort of the creativity that comes into that is how do you shape the environment to build in a meaningful task for that person? And you’re doing that either in sitting or standing, again just adding the creativity piece into it, always thinking about that in the back of your mind…you’re the technical application of the FES.” (PT2)

3c) “Challenges we have experienced” (HA1)

Q33: “…because of the cables…wireless may be better.” (STR1)

Q34: “So, I think you’re sort of restricted to some extent of what [you] can do with the length of the cable that you have. And the way that sometimes we’ve worked around it is by placing the device on a movable surface, or you know moving our actual stim device off of, you know, like a wheelie.” (PT2)

Q35: “One challenge with that I think though is how expensive it is, essentially. So, you can train someone with it for, I don’t know an hour, an hour and a half, but then they have nothing for them to do for the rest of the week…” (PT1)

Q36: “So, how do we have a program for them to also work on that at home and not just in therapy?” (PT1)