Emily Lindquist, Natara Ng, Gabrielle D. Bedard, Jennifer R. Tomasone, Jordan D. Herbison, Shane N. Sweet

Physical activity (PA) participation provides benefits for physical, psychological and social wellbeing, but university students with physical disabilities and chronic conditions continue to experience barriers to PA participation. A 12-week physical activity behaviour change program was developed and implemented, with an emphasis on coaching students how and when to use Behaviour Change Techniques (BCTs, e.g. goal setting) for physical activity. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore participants’ perceptions of program outcomes and their experiences being coached BCTs. Eleven students (age range: 21-56 years) across two university campuses participated in the weekly, one-on-one BCT coaching program and completed one 30-60-minute follow-up semi-structured interview. Transcripts were coded through the lens of the APEASE Criteria for intervention evaluation (acceptability, practicality, effectiveness, affordability, side-effects, and equity). Preliminary results highlight that the program was perceived as acceptable, with positive feedbackarising from participants’ ability to choose which BCTs they wanted to be coached on. Participants have highlighted the program as effective with internalizing the use of multipleBCTs post-program. Most participants describe the program as practical within a university setting, though some suggested having more flexible scheduling and making the weeklyquestionnaire more feasible (e.g., implying the academic language). From an equity perspective, some participants expressed frustration and guilt about their disability being a barrier to enacting BCTs week-to-week. Gaining insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the program will assist in informing future iterations of BCT coaching for PA among persons with disabilities in university settings.