Introduction and objective:Hearing loss ranks third among the health conditions that involvedisability-adjusted life years. Hearing aids are the most commonly used treatment option inpeople with hearing loss. However, a number of auditory rehabilitation programmes have beendeveloped with the aim of improving communicative abilities in people with hearing loss. The objective of this review was to determine the effectiveness of auditory rehabilitationprogrammes focused on communication strategies. Material and methods: This was a narrative revision. A literature search using PUBMED wascarried out. This search included systematic reviews investigating the effectiveness of auditorytraining and individual and group auditory rehabilitation programmes with the main focus oncounselling and communicative strategies for adults with hearing loss. Each study was analysedin terms of the type of intervention used and the results obtained. Results: Three articles were identified: one article about the effectiveness of auditory trai-ning programmes and 2 systematic reviews that investigated the effectiveness of communicativeprogrammes in adults with hearing loss. The «Active Communication Education» programmeappears to be an effective group programme of auditory rehabilitation that may be used witholder Spanish-speaking adults. Conclusions: The utility of hearing aid fitting and communicative programmes as rehabilitationoptions are associated with improvements in social participation and quality of life in patientswith hearing loss, especially group auditory rehabilitation programmes, which seem to havegood potential for reducing activity limitations and social participation restrictions, and thusfor improving patient quality of life © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L. y Sociedad Española de Otorrinolaringología y Patología Cérvico-Facial.