[Rehabilitation in children and adults : An overview]

The rehabilitation of patients with hearing loss includes technical, medical, and therapeutic education interventions. The success of cochlear implant (CI) treatment depends on joint coordination and execution of all measures. During the history of CI, expansion of the spectrum of indication criteria has led to evolution of auditory-verbal therapy, speech therapy, and auditory training.

This paper describes the current status of therapeutic knowledge and experience of hearing and speech therapeutic rehabilitation in children and adults. Current treatments and quality assurance measures are presented.

Effective auditory-verbal rehabilitation of children and auditory training in adults depends on individual objectives. In addition to subjective patient reports, the success of CI fitting is regularly monitored using specific tests. Therapeutic approaches that enhance the communication skills of children and adults are described in a structured manner. Established tests and their application in treatment, educational diagnostics, aftercare, and quality assurance complement the description.

Within an interdisciplinary team, structured auditory-verbal therapeutic interventions and reliable testing are crucial for documenting individual outcomes, discussing these compared to the expected result, and counselling the patient in terms of further therapeutic measures.