Table 2 Interview themes and associated citations (translated from French)

Adherence barriers

• “…there is mourning associated with the loss of self-confidence and body acceptance, especially in adolescent girls” -Social worker

• “Often, parents suffer and we minimize their suffering. They sometimes feel guilty or responsible for their child’s scoliosis” -Physiotherapist 1

• “A patient may be on his own all the time or rejected” -Clinical nurse

• “Every time parents are going through a divorce, their child’s brace treatment is at a higher risk of failure. It’s as if there were too many things going on and bracing is not a priority” - Orthotist 1

Professional support barriers

• “I see a lot of patients in a day, so I don’t have time to spend 30 minutes to an hour with them like a psychologist would. She [or he] will evaluate the family too” -Clinical nurse

• “I sometimes would have needed to reach a social worker. To have someone in our team to directly refer families to would help” - Orthotist 1

• “I had parents tell me: ‘we broke down after receiving our child’s genetic diagnosis’. Because they were referred to us [rehab center], I supported and helped them. Scoliosis patients, they aren’t referred anywhere” -Social worker

Functional strategies

• “…this approach of starting with a Providence [night brace model] and if it’s not enough, we progress to a full-time brace […] except if a patient’s curve leans towards surgery, we favor this approach” -Clinical nurse

• “It’s not normal that the brace hurts patients. It might be an excuse, but they need to be reassured that their brace will be adjusted. We have to make sure that the treatment is comfortable” -Physiotherapist 1

Educational strategies

• “…often, people come in with preconceived ideas they found online. They see monstruous things when they do their research. I try to disarm all that by explaining that it’s not really like what they’ve seen” -Orthopedist 2

• “I was there to facilitate patients’ understanding by putting myself in their situation and vulgarizing medical terminology” – Psychologist

Motivational strategies

• “We want to encourage [patients], since we are their ally. Not that we’re against the parents, but we try to create a strong bond [with patients] since they’re wearing the brace” - Physiotherapist 1

• “…there should be a way for them to share. If they could hear echoes of others experiences through social groups, it would help. Socialization is very important at their age” – Psychologist

• “I often print out two radiographs: one in-brace and one without. I sometimes give them to patients so that they look at it at home and be motivated. We easily see that the spine is straightened [in-brace]” -Physiotherapist 2

Psychological strategies

• “What we did is organize group sessions with a psychologist. It was interesting because patients got to know the psychologist” -Physiotherapist 1

• “I think that the introductive interview [physio. and psych. dyad] helped a lot. The psychological intervention was not in response to a difficulty; it was there as a service. It really was an integrated approach” -Psychologist

• “Instead of making [a nonadherent patient] feel bad, I listened and tried to understand what was difficult at that time” -Physiotherapist 1

• “I often say to patients, at brace delivery, that it’s absolutely normal that they are sad, mad or that they want to throw their brace away” -Orthotist 1

• “I think announcing that there will be psychosocial issues throughout the bracing experience legitimizes what the patient is going through and avoids her [or him] from feeling abnormal” - Psychologist

Interprofessional teamwork strategies

• “It has always been easy to work in a way that we have access to others […] we work in a team format and take decisions as a team, even if I have the last word. It’s very collaborative” - Orthopedist 2

• “I had a great [physiotherapist] colleague. She believed in what I do, she gave me space and valorized interview times. She could have thought that it wasted time for physical exercises, but she understood the benefits of my work” -Psychologist

• “Officially, patients came in for physiotherapy sessions, but we always had a global look on patients’ well-being during their brace experience […] We tried introducing a biopsychosocial approach from the start instead of waiting for coping issues to come up” – Psychologist