engleski

Contemporary Rehabilitation of Adults with Acquired Hearing Loss

Acquired hearing loss is among the most common chronic health conditions in the elderly. The consequences of hearing loss on the quality of life are comprehensive, since it has a negative impact on communication, and thus the interpersonal relationships, family and social life, emotional well-being, functional status and mental health. Therefore, the modern intervention seeks to reorient from medical to psycho-social model, which pays the same part of the professional attention to hearing aid fitting, as well as mitigation of social and emotional consequences of hearing loss and the empowerment of individuals for personal and social reactivation. Such a paradigm shift is possible only with an interdisciplinary approach and only with the acceptance of the fact that optimality of the final outcome of the rehabilitation depends on the success of the rehabilitation in (at least) five areas: early detection of hearing impairment, early and appropriate sensory management of hearing loss, supportive instructional activities, perceptual training and communication strategies training, and support aimed to evoke the acceptance of hearing loss and to develop an identity as a person with hearing loss. This paper offers an overview of the implications of acquired hearing loss and, in accordance, an overview of the components of contemporary rehabilitation for persons with hearing loss, with an emphasis on its holistic, and therefore multi- and interdisciplinary character, on the individual's experience of hearing loss, and on the evaluation of the rehabilitation outcomes in terms of positive changes in quality life.

acquired hearing loss ; adults ; elderly ; quality of life ; holistic rehabilitation ; client-oriented rehabilitation ; interdisciplinarity

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