The cleft team social worker

ABSTRACT

The birth of a child with significant medical problems poses challenges for most families. Congenital orofacial clefting is a common condition affecting families worldwide. Orofacial clefting requires long-term medical care and can affect multiple body systems. Having a child with a chronic medical condition such as cleft lip or palate creates many psychosocial ramifications for a family. This article describes the importance of medical social work involvement in the coordinated care for children with cleft lip and palate. Specific cases spanning prenatal care through adolescence are used to highlight the variety of complex psychosocial situations encountered in the multidisciplinary cleft team setting.

KEYWORDS:

• Cleft lip and palate
• hospital social work
• multidisciplinary team
• pediatric social work

Acknowledgment

The authors acknowledge the assistance of Keliang Xiao in the preparation of this article.

Funding

The authors thank the Frederick J. McCoy Family Foundation for supporting the Cleft and Craniofacial Clinics and establishing the Dr. Frederick J. McCoy Endowed Fund for Plastic Surgery and Craniofacial Research at Children’s Mercy Hospital and Clinics.

Additional information

Funding

The authors thank the Frederick J. McCoy Family Foundation for supporting the Cleft and Craniofacial Clinics and establishing the Dr. Frederick J. McCoy Endowed Fund for Plastic Surgery and Craniofacial Research at Children’s Mercy Hospital and Clinics.