title: 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.
authors.affiliation: a Pediatric Plastic and Cleft Surgery , Children's Mercy Hospital , Kansas City , Missouri , USA.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaye
authors.affiliation: b Department of Social Work , Children's Mercy Hospital , Kansas City , Missouri , USA.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lybrand
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D003376:Counseling; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D012947:Social Work / Q000379:methods*; D000068217:Social Workers
keywords: Cleft lip and palate; hospital social work; multidisciplinary team; pediatric social work