**10. Education and research**

Finally, education and awareness regarding orofacial clefts are key factors in achieving better long-term global access to cleft care. Education in cleft care is conducted at two levels:

#### **(a) Education of parents and caregivers**

Educating the care givers of cleft patient is crucial in achieving proper care and satisfactory future outcomes. On the initial visit, caretakers of the children should be given instructions on feeding assistance, airway maintenance, and other basic cleft care information to help the patient prepare for surgical intervention. After the operation, families should be given strict instructions regarding the remainder of their post-operative care at home prior to discharge. Families must be educated on the need for follow-up after operations and the importance of regular visits to the craniofacial orthodontist, pediatrician, speech therapist and feeding specialist for the long-term.

#### **(b) Training and education of local professionals**

It has long been the aim of global health care organizations to provide educational and training opportunities to health care professionals of LMIC, who can thereafter deliver high quality, team-based care in their local regions. A number of approaches have been outlined and proven to be effective in accomplishing this goal:

#### • **On-site education**

Delivering knowledge to local professionals on-site during cleft missions is effective in transmitting small, focused, and discrete areas of knowledge and experience. Although enormously enriching, such short-term programs provide a rather limited introduction to cleft care and surgery to local professionals present at the time [6].

#### • **Long-term education and training**

Long-term partnerships between local hospitals and academic institutions in wealthy countries help to provide proper, professional education, and experience. This can either be achieved by allowing fully credentialed visiting surgeons to stay with a host hospital and teach for an extended period of time or by bringing a limited number of host country participants to educational programs in regions with well-established craniofacial centers. More robust academic partnerships can also promote local academic leaders and would enhance training for health care providers in other fields, including speech pathology and surgical technicians. Such training programs aim to provide much needed local cleft care experts, who can contribute to the development of sustainable, self-sufficient cleft care centers.

#### **(c) Clinical research**

Collection of prospective, standardized data can yield high quality information that can be used to improve overall knowledge, cleft care processes, and outcomes. In addition to contributing to the field, research results can be presented to local health care professionals and the general population. Research can broadly be categorized as: epidemiological, genetic, prevention/risk factors, clinical presentation, outcomes assessment, and quality of life.
