Thirty-five men gave accounts of their experiences whilst taking part in the intervention, and eight men discussed their experiences retrospectively in focus groups.
The largest study included 458 residents within nine NH; seven homes took part in the intervention and two acted as controls to gauge temporal trends in care [ 37].
Ten participants in each condition also took part in a semi-structured interview, examining the experience of taking part in the intervention, and any perceived consequences in relation to sexual wellbeing.
Health concerns were frequently stated as a reason for taking part in the intervention and associated with an appreciation of the opportunity afforded by the availability of this intervention programme.
There was some suggestion that these younger women might recruit older relations to take part in the intervention and it will be valuable to assess the recruitment age profile over time.
To improve physical therapy, Potter et al. [ 21] emphasised the importance of physical therapists having an awareness of their part in the intervention and the interaction with the patient, and they concluded that more research was needed, especially from the patient perspective.
The consent being requested is (i) to take part in the intervention and (ii) to provide follow up data in 3 and 12 months time for the longitudinal study (even if they are not willing to take part in the intervention); b) Control group: Consent to take part in the trial will not be sought from men randomised into the control group as they need to remain unaware of the trial (see Ethics, below).
The study was implemented in three phases: phase 1, training and certification in the Group Lifestyle Balance (GLB) program and in standardized measurement techniques; phase 2, community-based screening to determine eligibility of individuals to take part in the intervention; and phase 3, provision of the intervention with 3- and 6-month follow-up including clinical assessment.
37 One study included in the systematic review and meta-analysis by Kayser et al 31 was excluded from our review because the same participants took part in both the intervention and placebo groups during two different ascents, and these were then compared with each other.
The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/79/prepub We thank Associate Professor Liz Eakin, Sue Jones and Darren Hauser, Dr Eric van Beurden, Lisa Barnett, Professor John Beard who all contributed to the design and implementation of the study as well as those community members who took part in the research interventions and surveys.
