Orofacial clefts are one of the most common congenital anomalies worldwide. Comprehensive cleft care interventions aim to address the complex surgical, nutritional, dental, speech, audiology, and psychosocial needs of patients with clefts....
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No actionable change for clinical practice in high-resource settings; findings are contextually specific to low-resource Ethiopian care and highlight systemic barriers rather than clinical technique.
Understanding caregiver barriers to comprehensive cleft care in low-income settings informs global audiology service delivery models and highlights equity gaps in access to hearing and speech rehabilitation.
- 01Phenomenological qualitative study of caregivers of children with cleft lip/palate at Jimma University Medical Center, Ethiopia.
- 02Comprehensive cleft care includes audiology, speech therapy, and surgical services.
- 03Key barriers included geographic distance, financial strain, and inadequate access to information.
- 04Findings are specific to a low-resource, sub-Saharan African healthcare context.
- 05Relevant to global health equity, humanitarian audiology, and international service planning.
Caregivers accessing comprehensive cleft care in Southwest Ethiopia face significant barriers including distance, cost, and lack of information.
studysupported- PMID
- 42940691
- DOI
- 10.3390/children13101372.
- Journal
- Children
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 5
- Population
- Caregivers of children with cleft lip and/or palate accessing care at Jimma University Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia
- Intervention
- Comprehensive cleft care including audiology services at a tertiary hospital in Ethiopia
Primary outcomes
Lived experiences and barriers to accessing comprehensive cleft care as reported by caregivers
