Post-implant outcomes in adults: (i) Rapid improvement in quality of life Cochlear implants improve overall psychological and social functioning in people with hearing loss. In a multicenter study, Baumgartner et al. (2007) evaluated the improvement in quality of life of implant recipients in a variety of ways. The study used the Nijmegen Quality of Life Questionnaire (Hinderink et al., 2000) to assess implant recipients’ subjective perceptions of changes in quality of life after cochlear implantation. Basic and advanced sound perception, verbal expression, changes in self-esteem and changes in social activities were included. All implant recipients showed significant improvements in all of these areas within one month of start-up, and the improvements continued to improve over time. The MED-EL cochlear implant system provides rapid quality of life improvements. (ii) Benefits for older implant recipients To evaluate the latest technological advances, Anderson et al. in 2006 conducted a subjective benefit assessment of older implants using the MED-EL cochlear implant system. Questions addressed preoperative medical history, postoperative device use, benefits in terms of communication, device operation, and quality of life. The study showed that technological advances (improvements in electrode design), new and faster speech encoding strategies and smaller and better sound processors allowed implant recipients to hear more finely. More than 80% of survey respondents had no difficulty distinguishing male and female voices, distinguishing human voices from ambient sounds, and understanding speech without relying on lip reading. The vast majority (91%) of survey respondents felt that cochlear implants improved their quality of life and gave them greater confidence. The results show that cochlear implants are beneficial for deaf older adults and are highly successful in increasing speech recognition and improving quality of life.