Aural Rehabilitation as Comprehensive Hearing Health Care

Abstract

In a 10-year-old publication, the author defined aural rehabilitation holistically and indicated that the evidence for effectiveness fell as one moved through the areas of function, activity, participation, and quality of life. Several developments since then warrant consideration. One is an increased recognition that hearing is a cognitive process. In this connection, special attention is being paid to listening effort. At the time of writing, this work is already influencing the design and marketing of hearing aids and, along with direct wireless connectivity, may well impact other components of aural rehabilitation. Another development is the increasing availability of low-cost hearing aids and personal sound amplification products for direct purchase. Combined with developments in self-testing and self-fitting, direct-to-consumer and low-cost hearing aids create an opportunity for dispensing audiologists to develop a more holistic approach to meeting the needs of people with hearing loss—as envisaged in the scope of practice outlined by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and as advocated by numerous writers over the past several decades.