Project R1: Enhanced aural rehabilitation for cochlear implant users via telerehab technology

This project aims to improve cochlear implant (CI) users’ performance with enhanced aural rehabilitation (AR) strategies via telehealth technology, maximizing both access to auditory information and functional outcomes for individuals with hearing loss.

Using a randomized controlled trial of AR strategies via telerehab, we can show greater performance and usability of technology and yield greater accessibility to this effective intervention.

Although there is great potential in AR services for CI users, there are many AR service delivery barriers.

In surveys of U.S. adults, 21 percent reported non-financial barriers, including the following:

• Accessibility (mobility, distance, and transportation problems)
• Accommodation (too busy with work or caring for family)
• Availability

Those from rural areas report limited qualified providers, financial constraints, and reduced transportation access. As the population ages, comprising a sizable part of adults receiving CIs, mobility issues contribute a noteworthy barrier to AR access. Telehealth technologies are commonly regarded as promising options to improve access to health services.

The previous RERC on Hearing Enhancement developed a state-of-the art rehabilitation program conducted in clinical settings. Adapting this successful rehabilitation protocol for telerehab has the potential to greatly extend access to much needed rehabilitative services. It also lets consumers take advantage of the increasingly interconnected world in which they live.