Facing Cleft: Encouraging Healthy Development

In this Phase I SBIR proposal, Danya International, Inc., will develop Facing Cleft: Encouraging Healthy Development, an information-based parent education package to support parents of a child born with a cleft lip and palate. The intervention package will consist of a 20-minute video, and print materials for parents and providers. The Facing Cleft intervention is designed to educate new parents of children with cleft lip and palate about the disorder, thus increasing knowledge and self-efficacy in the parents to improve the psychosocial developmental outcomes of children born with cleft lip and palate. An evaluation will be conducted to determine if the Facing Cleft intervention, when compared with the standard information provided by the hospital, influences parent knowledge and coping behaviors. During Phase II, a large-scale evaluation will be conducted to determine the long-term impact of the Facing Cleft intervention on parent coping and acceptance of the disability, and the impact of parent education and coping on the child's social development. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: The primary market for the Facing Cleft: Encouraging Healthy Development package will be birth hospitals, pediatrician's offices, and other medical facilities that do not already have a craniofacial team on staff to talk to parents of children born with clefts. A secondary market for this package will be the voluntary and educational foundations that organize resources to parents of children with clefts lip and palate. During Phase II of the project, an Internet site will be built to accompany the intervention. This internet site will be an additional forum for selling the video, and will attract advertisers and sponsors.