A Support Group for Caregivers of Children with Craniofacial Differences |
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| Authors: | Alexis Johns Yvonne Gutierrez D. Colette Nicolaou Laura Garcia Yolanda Céspedes-Knadle Laura Bava |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Division of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USAajohns@chla.usc.edu;3. Division of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA;4. Rice University;5. Northeast Valley Health Corporation, Houston, Texas USA;6. Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, San Fernando, California, USA |
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| Abstract: | ![]()
ABSTRACTCaregivers of children with craniofacial differences (CFD) experience psychosocial stressors; however, few groups are described for this population. The authors outline an eight-session group and qualitative analysis of caregivers’ experiences. The majority of participants (n = 100) were mothers (76%) of children who were female (75%) and identified as Latino (79%). Children’s mean age was 10.6 (SD = 2.8) years, and they were born with cleft lip/palate (56%) along with other CFD diagnoses. Themes included: group appreciation (21%), mutual acceptance (18%), coping (18%), parenting skills (17%), learning (9%), resiliency (7%), empathy (4%), diagnosis information (3%), and self-care (3%). Caregivers’ reported experiences largely corresponded with group goals. |
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| Keywords: | caregivers craniofacial differences family support group group curriculum qualitative analysis |
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