Mobile Surgical Scouts Increase Surgical Access for Patients with Cleft Lip and Palate in Nepal.

In Nepal's remote regions, challenging topography prevents patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP) from seeking care. To measure the effect of a mobile surgical scout program on CLP surgical care in remote regions of Nepal. Forty-four lay people were trained as mobile surgical scouts and over 5 months traversed remote districts of Nepal on foot to detect and refer CLP patients for surgical care.

A task-shifted speech therapy program for cleft palate patients in rural Nepal: Evaluating impact and associated healthcare barriers.

Introduction: Though access to surgical care for cleft lip/palate has expanded in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), post-palatoplasty speech therapy is often lacking due to limited healthcare infrastructure and personnel. This mixed-methods study seeks to: 1) evaluate the impact of task-shifted speech therapy on a standardized speech score; 2) describe the experiences of families with post-operative cleft care and associated barriers; and 3) understand how to optimize cleft care by exploring the experiences of children who had nominal improvements after task-shifted speech therapy.

Methods: A convergent parallel mixed-methods study was conducted in Nepal.

Nepali Linguistic Validation of the Velopharyngeal Insufficiency Effects on Life Outcomes Instrument: VELO-Nepali.

Objective: To translate and validate the velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) effects on life outcomes (VELO) instrument into Nepali, and test its internal consistency and validity.

Design: Quality-of-life instrument translation and validation.

Setting: Community served by Nepal's craniofacial referral hospital.