My mom and dad have hearing loss but won't buy hearing aids. What can I do?
My mom is one year younger than my father and she will not buy hearing aids. She desperately needs them because every time we are watching tv together in the family room she turns the volume up louder.
it took me a loooong time to convince LO, but i managed.
i read a lot of advice on the internet. people tried all sorts of strategies. one son simply dropped his father and grandfather (both with hearing loss) at the hearing aid shop/hearing test, by surprise. they were very upset. but they were already in the shop. they got the test; eventually used the hearing aids, eventually thanked the son/grandson.
with my LO, i talked about the need for hearing aids, again and again (i had heard of someone who kept talking about it until LO agreed). my LO reluctantly agreed to go get tested.
now, months later, my LO totally agrees the hearing aids are very useful; says thanks; uses them daily; communication mucccch easier.
somehow, just about no elderly person wants to wear hearing aids. (wearing glasses is ok for them) (hearing aids make some people think they’re old) (some people even start liking the silence/hearing loss).
it’s not easy to convince them to go.
but—keep in mind, bad hearing often (not always) leads to dementia. hearing + cognitive ability are very linked.
You could try putting the headphone near the TV and the speaker next to your parents. It will be louder for them, but they may not need it as loud since the sound will be directly beside them. It will also be useful for carrying on a regular conversation, as you will not need to constantly repeat yourself.
It is very annoying when people don't want to take care of their hearing loss. I spend soooo much time repeating myself, both to my mom and my hubby. And playing the "I thought you said" game. So, we're supposed to do the work cuz they won't do anything about it. Fun. Sign me up.
What Grandma1954 said...also in my case my Dad ( now passed ) didn’t want to wear hearing aids including after he reluctantly got them. I got hearing aids in my 30’s so I teased Dad that my hearing was worse than his which was true! The ribbing worked and he started wearing them since I beat him in the hearing loss department lol
You probably don’t have hearing aids but maybe joke about yourself and what happened after you got earwax removed...some such thing...in any case you get the idea. Keeping the topic light might help. Good luck!
There are wireless headphones that can be worn that will allow her to hear the TV without turning the volume up. Might also want to turn on Closed Captioning I find with some shows dialog is difficult particularly if background music or noise in the show is at the same level as the conversation. CC helps with that. Might want to have them checked just for wax build up. That is very common and the buildup happens slowly so you do not realize that it is happening. (cleaning ears with a swab can sometimes compact the wax making it even more difficult to hear.)
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it took me a loooong time to convince LO, but i managed.
i read a lot of advice on the internet. people tried all sorts of strategies. one son simply dropped his father and grandfather (both with hearing loss) at the hearing aid shop/hearing test, by surprise. they were very upset. but they were already in the shop. they got the test; eventually used the hearing aids, eventually thanked the son/grandson.
with my LO, i talked about the need for hearing aids, again and again (i had heard of someone who kept talking about it until LO agreed). my LO reluctantly agreed to go get tested.
now, months later, my LO totally agrees the hearing aids are very useful; says thanks; uses them daily; communication mucccch easier.
somehow, just about no elderly person wants to wear hearing aids. (wearing glasses is ok for them) (hearing aids make some people think they’re old) (some people even start liking the silence/hearing loss).
it’s not easy to convince them to go.
but—keep in mind, bad hearing often (not always) leads to dementia. hearing + cognitive ability are very linked.
hug!!
You could try putting the headphone near the TV and the speaker next to your parents. It will be louder for them, but they may not need it as loud since the sound will be directly beside them. It will also be useful for carrying on a regular conversation, as you will not need to constantly repeat yourself.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=voice+amplifier&crid=1CKT1G7UTKDQF&sprefix=Voice+am%2Caps%2C193&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_3_8
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You probably don’t have hearing aids but maybe joke about yourself and what happened after you got earwax removed...some such thing...in any case you get the idea. Keeping the topic light might help. Good luck!
Might also want to turn on Closed Captioning I find with some shows dialog is difficult particularly if background music or noise in the show is at the same level as the conversation. CC helps with that.
Might want to have them checked just for wax build up. That is very common and the buildup happens slowly so you do not realize that it is happening. (cleaning ears with a swab can sometimes compact the wax making it even more difficult to hear.)