Team-Oriented Care for Orofacial Clefts: A Review of the Literature

Objective: To examine the process of team-oriented care for children with orofacial clefts. Design: Systematic review of available studies reporting team-oriented management of children and adults with orofacial clefts. We identified studies from OVID, PsychINFO, REHABDATA, PubMed, and The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal to complete this review. Main Outcome Measures: Process of team-oriented treatment, which included use of team-oriented care, continuity of team-oriented care, and approaches to team-oriented care. Results: We identified nine studies including 1398 participants. We found that studies examining team-oriented approaches to orofacial clefts were limited. Studies of orofacial teams suggest that use of team-oriented approaches to care are highly variable. It is unclear how these inconsistencies in approaches to care influence long-term outcomes. Conclusions: Although the literature suggests that the process of team-oriented care results in better outcomes in individuals with orofacial clefts, process of care as a measurable outcome has yet to be adequately examined. Future studies are needed to investigate the impact on clinical outcomes and their relationship to cost effectiveness and efficiency of care.