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I am increasingly uncomfortable with her decision not to use her cane and hearing aids regularly. Going out in public or listening to her talk about situations where she clearly needed them drives me crazy. Sometimes she just forgets or doesn't think or is in a hurry. I used to remind her when we went out to bring her cane but now she insists she doesn't need it. (In the spring using her cane/ wheelchair was not optional but she is better now) Hearing aids are relatively new, less than a year, but she only wears them sparingly because thinks they are like reading glasses only puts them in to go to doctors or church. She complains about not being able to hear people on the phone, at church, at social occasions and says the problem is with other people. I want to be sympathetic, to empathize because these changes - mobility and needing a cane and losing her ability to hear are not easy and a blow to her pride. I want to help her stay independent longer because she likes to socialize, volunteer, be around people. She lives on her own, still drives @ 92 and very independent/ stubborn. She lives around the corner from me. I don't want my discomfort to prevent me from being around her, being social, listening to her. I wish I could approach her differently, lighter, maybe with humor, but instead I get angry and worry more often than not which does not help. Suggestions?

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My dad needed hearing aids for 20 years before he got them. Finally we all decided we were 1) no longer going to raise our voices for conversations and 2) we were no longer going to repeat ourselves. Things came to a head one Thanksgiving when we were speaking in normal voices and he kept saying "what was that?" "what did she say" and we didn't repeat. He got angry, my step mom got angry back and told him to start wearing the damn hearing aids that we were not going to stress our voices and repeat ourselves just because he was too stubborn to use them. Well, finally he tried them, wore them all of the time, and was delighted to hear birds and the wind in his trees after all of this time with silence.

When he refused to use his walker, my step-mom started refusing to help him walk. Said he was too heavy for her 75 year old body to support and if he fell, they would call 911 to get him up. After a few falls, he uses his walker.

I don't know if you want to go as tough as we did, but we sort of got fed up. Good luck
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I don't know that there is all that much you can do with elders stubborness, especially with a little dementia throw in. My folks drive me bug s...t, refusing to to anything that makes any sense. I used to nag at them constantly, MOM! USE THE D*MN WALKER BEFORE YOU KILL YOURSELF!! It doesn't work. So these days I make a conscious effort to not come off as scolding and nagging about the Walker and other issues. This helps a little but the reality is you would need to be by her side 24/7 to totally prevent falls, monitor eating and meds and all the rest.
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I should add, I like what Kimber wrote. My Mom will respond somewhat to lessons of consequence. She's spent time in the ER, hospital, rehab, she knows how horrible it can be. So when I gently remind her to take her insulin and use her walker cause I don't want her in the hospital, those old memories kick in and she'll behave herself for a bit.
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If she can't hear and she can't use the legs very well, how the heck does she drive a car? She should not be driving, for the safety of others. As for the nagging, that just makes her dig in her heels and oppose the suggestions. I simply told my MIL that if she fell, I would not pick her up, I would just step over her. She knew that I meant it. If she asks you to repeat a conversation, just say "Nope. Where's the hearing aid?" and smile.
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ellsbells377, oh my gosh the stubbornness and the pouting when it comes to elders. They think if they go without that cane/walker or their glasses/hearing aids that they will appear a lot younger. Appear a lot younger to whom???

I know when my Dad finally got his rolling walker, I bet all the neighbors lets out a sigh of relief and said "it's about time".

Usually one has to wait for a serious fall for those elders who refuse to use a cane/walker. Dad learned when he fell backwards on their driveway. Sadly my Mom never got to learn her lesson about not using a cane/walker as she is now in long-term-care as her last fall caused serious head trauma.

ellsbells377, feel free to use my Mom's case when talking to your Mom. That her next fall could result in her never coming home and being bedridden for the rest of her life. And don't be surprised if you Mom says that would never happen to her.... [rolling eyes].
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1. Hearing aids: in addition to what's already been written, there can be issues of "hearing shock" because suddenly noises that haven't been heard for years are loud and clear and uncomfortable. There's also the daily maintenance that's required - putting in the little canister of drying ingredients, cleaning, etc. And sometimes for someone with decreased manual dexterity, it's hard to get the aids out of the ears.

But I think that generally it's the shock of so much ambient noises, even if the aids allow some of it to be toned down and/or out.

The best way is the method already suggested: don't speak any louder and eventually being left out of the conversation may be the prompt for using the aids.

2. Assistive devices. Whenever someone refuses and the family begs, chides and/or gets annoyed, that person has temporarily shifted the balance of control to him/herself.

Remember that these folks are losing control of their life in many other aspects; it's got to be a frightening situation for them.

Sometimes that's an issue; other times it's the issue of not wanting to have to use the devices b/c they're inconvenient, uncomfortable, and/or represent old age.

Over several years, I've backed off on insisting except when I feel it's mandatory, such as in snowy weather. I just got tired of having to remind, and sometimes even to nag. But I've also said that I'm tired of spending time in the ER, and if something happens I'll just call EMS and let them handle the issue.

A few sojourns in rehab for fractured femurs also helped with using assistive devices, but generally I let my father decide when he wants to use them, as I can easily tell from his gait whether or not he needs some help at that particular time.
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Thanks for your responses. The smile suggestion while not helping her is the best. Perfectly disarming without being defensive.
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To me, the reason for the resistance or refusal to use aids/canes/walkers is of significance. If the cause is just them being stubborn or wanting control, it can be dealt with and even manipulated by information, threats, etc. , but if the person has dementia, then none of those things will matter to them. I'm not sure if they just can't reason mentally or if they get it, but then forget it and don't remember that they should be using aid or cane.

If it is the dementia, the only real way to protect them is to supervise them and ensure they are using what they need. Reminders, explanations of what might happen, promising to not get them up if they fall, etc. doesn't mean much to them. Neither does nagging.

If she is living alone and behaving in ways that are unsafe, it's not wise to condone it. I'm not sure how you are related to her, but whoever is her DPOA, should look at it more closely. My loved one, who lived alone acted that way too, but the falls eventually created that crisis that put her into a facility.
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My mother refused to use her rolling walker in the house and got around hanging on to the walls and furniture. She was always falling, often ending up in the ER. As Sunny said, eventually there was a major fall in the middle of the night, EMS took her to hospital and from there she went into a NH. You can't stand over someone 24/7.
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I enjoyed reading all the suggestions for the denial/stubbornness etc. I temporarily moved in with my 90yr old dad nearly 6 months ago. He wasn't expected to live the weekend of the 23rd May 2015. I fought to bring him home, took a career break to provide 24/7 care. His companion (non live in) refused to do any personal care with his stoma, sleep pattern, house chores, meds etc. He had not had a hearing test for over 6 years and no sight test for 16 years, I asked why, they both said he didn't want any aids to improve his quality of life? Now he is up walking, can see and drive! Can hear (bi lateral aids) and they have told me to go home! Fair enough, not sure what's going to happen in the near future though?
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Do what I do with my 89 yr. old husband. I bring his hearing aids to him when he forgets, and stand there while he puts them in. Tell her you will not go anywhere with her if she cannot put her hearing aids in. Hearing aids not only aid in hearing, but it actually changes the brain in order to perform better. People who do not wear their hearing aids or get them only make life miserable for everyone else around them, and I do not have any patience with them when it comes to this. Tell her you will only be around her if her hearing aids are in. This is called "Tough Love" and it will work if you stick to your guns. Why are you suffering for something she is doing? If she doesn't want to use her cane perhaps she does not need it and if she falls it will be of her own doing. You are not responsible for everything she does or does not do. At 92 yrs. she must know her own body. But, not having hearing aids will also prevent her from hearing sirens in traffic and perhaps getting into an accident. Be strong!
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I know this costly stubbornness close up for at least two decades with three people. Think of all the expense to insurance/Medicare/Medicaid and families if older and disabled people actually followed sensible advice. I found that my Mother, Father, yea, even my Husband listened to one-on-one paid professional advice when I was able to arrange for it at critical moments (typically right after a big costly consequence) by pointedly asking the nurse/doctor/rehab specialist to speak plainly to the patient. I wish there were such a role as Care Manager associated with insurances who is effective at arranging the one-on-one discussions when needed. I fear that such a role would shortly be morphed into a care gatekeeper with the power to deny insurance benefits based on repeated cavalier behavior of the patient. So, maybe a social-worker who sits down with the disabled person and family from time to time to review how heathily and safely the disabled person is living and how the family is coping, and to learn of any on-going problems. That would be such a help. Do not ignore the mental-health side of things. My Father had a terminal diagnosis and was not handling it well as almost nobody be could be expected to do. Being the strong in-control type person of 83 years carrying that burden alone is terrible, and his anger at all around him was also terrible. I could see my mother shrinking day by day. It wasn't fair to anybody. Not to him, not to her, nor me. I knew what was needed but had absolutely no standing to bring it about. The doctor who was treating him should have prescribed it and insisted. This period was more devastating than his death and by that time, my mother was bedridden by the entire experience. We do not deal effectively with elder issues. As a country, we are terrible at it and wasteful at it.
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Good news, she is going to get hearing retested this week. I spoke to the hearing aid providers and mother in law about having weekly fittings again like when she first got them to practice putting them in and making adjustments. She has trouble putting one of them in. She has appointments for the next four weeks. Mother in law said she will try wearing them daily a again during this period. The hearing aid people can track if she is using them. The hearing aid people requested someone come with her to these appointments and she's okay with me coming. She spent a lot of money on these hearing aids, is extremely outgoing and social, and has made efforts to make other health and lifestyle changes to stay independent so making the effort is worthwhile to try and use them. This post makes it sound like it was easy to persuade her to do this when in actuality it's been several years of conversations and more recently problems. Asking the question here and hearing your answers gave me the nudge I needed to have a series of very pointed conversations with her over the weekend. She made the decisions, she knows the benefits and limitations of hearing aids. She's losing clarity, the ability make out words. I hope she can find a level of comfort with them so she'll wear them.
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I agree with the posters on here. Ask her when she breaks her hip who is going to take care of her because she refused to use her walker/cane/Rollator? TELL HER IT WON'T BE YOU!
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my mother is 90 years old and in a nursing facility she has Alzheimer's I am so depressed I feel like I just can't go on most days I really don't have any family support she has three other children that have nothing to do with her when there are a lot of issues with the home and I've tried to get her moved to someplace different but there's nothing available I speak to the administrator I spoke to the social worker to the nursing staff to the obusman I've tried to contact state she's on Medicaid nothing seems to be working I have no money to hire a lawyer and I have no money to take her put her someplace else some days I just wish I didn't have to get out of bed to deal with this.
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