In 2011, Nana Ekua Owusu, a speech language pathologist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital team in Accra, launched an outreach project. She began travelling in a refurbished van to consult with patients. Speech therapy is an integral part of cleft treatment and speech therapy training was provided to 12 nurses and administrative staff.
As front-line contacts, these nurses and staff encourage families to take the child for assessment and treatment at the appropriate age. To improve patient follow-up, a database was also developed.
Lives Transformed, by the Numbers:
- 85 Primary and secondary CLP surgeries completed
- 30 Patients that received dental care
- 179 Speech/audiological sessions provided
- 76 New CLP patients enrolled at the hospital
- 200 Patients that received counseling and feeding support