Development of improved cleft lip/palate face models for teaching parents of children with cleft lip/palate.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to improve and evaluate cleft lip/palate face models to give support information to the parents whose children have cleft lip/palate. MATERIAL AND METHOD Cleft lip/palate face models are made from a mold of about the same size as a child'head using rubber, wood and silicone and can be separated into parts to match the severity of the disease. The authors surveyed two representative samples of new candidate parents whose children had cleft lip/palate (10 in a pilot study then 30 in the larger study) and five nurses (who had taken care of the cleft lip/palate patients). The questionnaire was designed by the researchers and it had a Cronbach's reliability of a = 0.72. RESULTS The result of the pilot evaluation revealed that the overall satisfaction score was high but the color of the models was not realistic so the satisfaction score was medium. After improvements of the colour and the post-surgical scar, the qualification and satisfaction scores were high (average 4.2). CONCLUSION The authors present an improved cleft lip/palate face models for educational use to parents of children with cleft lip/palate. The models had an overall good level of satisfaction. Using face models to give information helped parents to know and understand about the condition, treatments, caregiving and scheduling age-determined visits for treatments.