The Mannheim Cochlea Implant Care Concept deviates from conventional CI rehabilitation
programs in Germany by (1) switch on of the implant during a 5-day inpatient stay
at a specialized rehabilitation clinic, (2) a further 3-week long rehabilitative training
program at this clinic between 3 to 6 months after implantation, and (3) further adjustments
of CI and hearing aid at certified local acousticians.
Rehabilitative training programs (1) and (2) were accepted well by the patients and
showed significantly higher improvement of speech comprehension, localization and
sound quality as judged by the patients with the SSQ questionnaire (Noble and Gatehouse,
2004) 6 months after implantation. Also for this time interval, results of speech
tests in quiet and in noise showed a trend for higher improvements in speech tests
in the group with inpatient rehabilitative training as compared to outpatient rehabilitation
activities. Results are in line with those of a retrospective study that also supports
the efficacy of inpatient rehabilitation for CI recipients (Zeh and Baumann, 2015).
Thus inpatient rehabilitation at least accelerates auditory rehabilitation after implantation,
promoting rapid professional and social inclusion. Integration of this or similar
therapeutic concepts in the German catalog of follow-up treatment measures appears
justified (Satz von Zeh u Baumann 2015).
