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.