Objective: To study the effects of an innovated preparation program for caregivers on their anxiety, understanding of how to care, and ability to conduct pain assessment and pain management for children after palatoplasty.
Materials and Methods: This research was a quasi-experimental study of 2-groups pre-posttest design. The sample group comprised of 40 cases, including pediatric patients with cleft palate who were currently in the preparation stage prior to surgery, as well as their caregivers. They were divided into an experimental group and a control group with 20 subjects each. The research procedure for the experimental group was based on the implementation of an innovated preparation program for the caregivers of the cleft palate children undergoing palatoplasty in combination with care as conventional method. Meanwhile, the control group received care as without the preparation program.
Results: The caregivers of the experimental group showed decreased anxiety with lower average anxiety score than those of the control group (p-value <0.05). In addition, the caregivers in the experimental group had more understanding of how to take care of the postoperative children, and they were able to perform pain assessment and management for the children significantly better (p-value <0.05) than those of the control group.
Conclusion: The innovated preparation program for caregivers of cleft palate children can reduce anxiety and increase understanding of how to take care of children after palatoplasty.

Keyword: Cleft lip and palate [CLP], Palatoplasty, Caregivers