The ASHA Journals and the American Journal of Audiology (AJA) are proud to announce the publication of a clinical practice guideline on aural rehabilitation (AR) in adults. This article includes a number of evidence-based recommendations for the provision of AR services for adults across clinical settings and serves as an official statement from ASHA. Developed by a multidisciplinary panel of experts, this clinical practice guideline is a key resource for clinicians!
AR for Adults With Hearing Loss
Hearing loss affects more than 20% of the world’s population, and its side effects are damaging and costly, especially when left untreated. Although there is no cure for most hearing loss, there are several strategies that audiologists can use, including AR and amplification.
The article examines seven key clinical questions and provides summaries of the evidence based on 85 studies selected by the panel for meta-analysis. These questions cover issues such as personal adjustment counseling, the provision of information related to hearing loss, the timing of AR, and the involvement of communication partners in AR.
The article’s layout makes it easy for clinicians to find their question and to read and apply the current guideline and recommendations. In addition, the guideline has recommendation-specific key practice points to help inform the implementation of AR within a person-centered framework. The clinical practice guideline also contains a number of appendixes and tables, helping you find the information you need at a glance.
The authors of this clinical practice guideline stress that clinicians are expected to determine the applicability of the guideline to each patient based on the clinician’s clinical expertise, knowledge, and the unique circumstances and preferences of their individual patient and their care partners. Given the emphasis on providing up-to-date research, ASHA has pledged to update the guideline within the next 5 years.
Thank You
Once you’ve checked out the clinical practice guideline, why not see what else AJA has for you? ASHA publishes AJA continuously and releases four issues a year, plus special issues covering topics like the internet and audiology and even more on AR! With more than 30 years of research, AJA covers every topic relevant to ASHA’s audiologists.
We’d like to thank the entire Guideline Development Panel, as well as Tracy Schooling and Julie Ambrose, for their work in bringing this guideline to readers! You can hear Panel Members Kathleen Cienkowski and Greta Stamper discuss the clinical practice guideline below.
We hope that this clinical practice guideline provides you with the resources to guide your practice and the encouragement to help your patients and their communication partners. The clinical practice guideline is available now; you can also find more than 20 new articles to explore in the latest issue of AJA!
