Audiological Rehabilitation
Also written as: AR — Audiological Rehabilitation
The comprehensive, person-centred clinical process of reducing hearing-related disability through device fitting, counselling, and communication training.
Full Definition
Audiological rehabilitation (AR) is an overarching term encompassing all clinician-directed efforts to minimize the communicative, psychosocial, and functional consequences of hearing loss. It includes, but is not limited to, hearing aid fitting, cochlear implant programming, auditory training, communication strategies training, counselling, and family education. The term is preferred in formal clinical and research writing over the narrower 'hearing aid rehabilitation' or the broader lay phrase 'hearing rehab.' In edited texts, 'audiological rehabilitation' should not be used interchangeably with 'aural rehabilitation,' although the two terms overlap substantially; 'aural rehabilitation' tends to appear in North American contexts while 'audiological rehabilitation' is more prevalent in British and Australian usage.
Usage
Usage note: In British and Australian clinical documents, this term is preferred over 'aural rehabilitation.' Do not hyphenate ('audiological-rehabilitation') unless used as a compound modifier before a noun.
In Context
- "The department's audiological rehabilitation pathway includes three structured group sessions and individual follow-up appointments." — NHS service specification document
- "Guidelines recommend that audiological rehabilitation be initiated within six weeks of the initial hearing aid fitting." — Clinical practice guideline