About Face Value project:
See also our web page: http://www.facevalue.cc
Optimising the psychosocial care for individuals with birth defects in Europe by implementing an innovative training method for staff in health care and NGO settings.
PROJECT NUMBER 2014-1-UK01-KA202-001615
This project is supported by the European Commission through the ERASMUS+ strategic partnerships
The rational of the project was shaped at the European parliament meeting “The challenges of health inequalities in the treatment and prevention of birth defects in Europe” in Brussels (9/10/2012) since it was identified that the psychosocial aspects for individuals with disfigurement is less than optimal in many instances across Europe. The validity of idea was further strengthening by the approved COST Action IS1210 – Appearance Matters that acknowledges the psychosocial consequences of having a negative body image or disfigurement is a European priority. The lack of adequate psychosocial training in order to provide suitable provision of care to families that is affected by disfigurement and in many cases the unintentional marginalization and socially exclusion that can occur. In many cases the health care professionals lack the capacity to deliver appropriate psychosocial care in combination with not understanding the specific cultural stigma associated with disfigurement. In Bulgaria, by a request from UNICEF, a survey highlighted that 40% of the parents were advised to abandon their child with cleft in an orphanage where they can expect life-long institutionalization, because of the financial and emotional burden. Of 89% of these, the advice was given by a qualified health professional (ECO, 2011). In Bulgaria, Latvia, Turkey and Serbia, the psychosocial care provision is not adequately developed or in some cases non-existing. This is mostly due to that the health staff or members of relevant NGO’s has no training in regards in how to deliver appropriate psychosocial support. By having a consortium of psychosocial experts (UK), pedagogical experts in vocational training in accordance to the European Qualification Framework (NO) together with hospitals that deliver care for disfigurments (RS, TR) and NGO’s (BG, NL) that works directly with individuals with disfigurement and their families as well as providing training to health professionals.