Our Mission
Our mission is to ensure children worldwide can live a life without the limitations brought on by clubfoot deformity by providing affordable clubfoot bracing solutions and donating to those in need.
Our Vision
To create a world in which every child, regardless of their circumstances, has access to safe, comfortable, and compassionate clubfoot bracing treatment to ensure a world free from clubfoot deformity.
The Iowa Brace Legacy
Dr. Ignacio Ponseti, the developer of the gold standard of clubfoot care, dedicated his life to ensuring all children across the world would have access to the best clubfoot treatment regardless of their economic or social circumstances. His successor, our very own Dr. Jose Morcuende, is the lead developer of the Iowa Brace along with Dr. Nicole Grosland and Dr. Thomas Cook. Because 80% of children who are born with clubfoot are born in developing countries, our mission is to provide the Iowa Brace for all children affected by clubfoot across the world.
Clubfoot Solutions provides children with the Iowa Brace to give them the opportunity to live a productive life free of pain and shame. The Iowa Brace was developed with an emphasis on lifestyle, comfort, and affordability. See for yourself how effective this treatment is for children around the world.
Honoring the late Dr. Thomas Cook
Dr. Cook was the co-founder of Clubfoot Solutions, a Professor Emeritus of Public Health and Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Iowa, and past Director of Global Operations of Ponseti International Association. He held post graduate degrees in Physical Therapy, Biomedical Engineering, and Human Factors Engineering and published over a hundred peer-reviewed papers. In 2019 his book âClubfoot: The Quest for a Better Life for Millions of Childrenâ was published and distributed to parents and health care workers around the world. He served as a Fulbright Scholar in Central/Eastern Europe and has lectured or overseen research projects in more than 40 countries. He has also served as a consultant to the World Health Organization, the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Global Health Workforce Alliance.
During the later stages of his career and into retirement Dr. Cook directed his energy, talent and compassion toward eliminating clubfoot deformity worldwide. His dedication to the development and distribution of the Iowa Brace has gone on to help over 100,000 children. His legacy will live on each time a child puts on an Iowa Brace to ensure they can walk, run, play and lead a productive life.
Dr. Ponseti
The Ponseti Method for clubfoot correction is recognized as the gold standard around the world. It was developed by Dr. Ignacio Ponseti. Dr. Ponseti came to the University of Iowa from the Spanish island of Menorca in 1941. He completed his residency and went on to join the faculty of orthopedic medicine in 1944. During his research, he found that, in adulthood, former surgical patients often experienced foot stiffness, pain, arthritis, and limited mobility, and, in many cases, required additional surgery.
By studying the anatomy and functions of a babyâs foot, Dr. Ponseti developed a non-surgical method to correct clubfoot in infants through gentle manipulation of the feet followed by the application of plaster casts. The success of the Ponseti Method has been well documented through patient studies and research articles. For additional information on the Ponseti Method for treating clubfoot, please visit http://www.ponseti.info/
The Ponseti International Association is engaged in building the capacity to treat clubfoot, in large part through properly training health care providers throughout the world. Assuming an average incidence of one child born with clubfoot in every 1,000 live births, there are approximately 200,000 new clubfoot cases each year worldwide. Additionally, it is estimated that there are currently nearly one million children with neglected (untreated) clubfoot deformity under the age of 14. Our experience indicates that, on average, each properly trained Ponseti provider can treat 50 new patients each year (or one new patient each week) if he/she conducts a clubfoot clinic one day each week as part of an active clinical practice. Using this estimate, treating 200,000 new cases of clubfoot each year requires a minimum of 4,000 Ponseti-proficient providers globally.
To address the need, the Ponseti International Association coordinates international training trips using a âtrain-the-trainerâ approach. They also coordinate programs to bring healthcare workers from around the U.S. and world to the University of Iowa for training.
Help Transform a Childâs Life
Your donation can make a world of difference for children born with clubfoot deformity, giving the child a chance to walk, run, and play without limitations.