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susanelease1 Asked August 2013

Any suggestion on keeping track of hearing aid?

My mom 86 recently moved to assisted living lost her hearing aid 1st week. She is 86 very hard of hearing poor vision, and dementia. I'm working on replacing her hearing aid they say see needs two now as he hearing is so bad. Her dementia has worsen since loss of hearing aid of course some of it could be new assisted living environment.

I'm worried she will lose her new one how can I prevent or reduce the chances of it being lost. She does wear it all the time except sleeping and bathing.

jmcgrath Aug 2013
I have worked as a director in long term care as well as assisted living. Ask that she be assisted with the hearing aids and that they are kept at the nurses desk, or locked with her medications in her room while out. You can also paint a bright color on part of them. this way if they fall out, or she takes them out and leaves them somewhere, (most dementia patients do!) they are easier to see and find.

DebMath Aug 2013
Two stories with words of caution: 1. Mom was in a beautiful rehab facility for seven weeks. When we got her home to my sisters house, it took a crowbar to get the hearing aid out of her ear; the wax served as a glue. Of course, the battery was dead, too. I'm sure it hadn't been taken out all that time. 2. Several years ago, I heard a non-stop squealing sound of a "handled" hearing aid; I bounded upstairs to find my pup, Coco, merrily chewing on it. Mmmm. Tasty. Fortunately, the hearing aid was many years old and ready to be replaced anyway. I now put Mom's hearing aid in her drawer at nighttime. I like the idea of painting them. Hey, about a glow-in-the-dark paint???? :)

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stevensmom Aug 2013
We use a red "pencil" box with a piece of foam inside and a picture of a hearing aid on the outside. We also wrote on the calendar every two weeks to CLEAN Hearing Aids (take the earpiece and tubing off and soak them overnight in warm water with dish soap). We also replaced the batteries then. I like the idea of putting some red paint on the part that goes over the ear--I wonder if nail polish would work or if it would come off? As a special education teacher, I'm used to making picture schedules and cue cards for students; when my mom goes into assisted living, they are going to be all over the place! For herself and the caregivers. My son is disabled and lives in an HCBS home, he's got cue cards all over his room, too! Hope this helps!

sharynmarie Aug 2013
My mom is in a memory care unit. We have the caregivers remove mom's hearing aids at night, they recharge them in the nurses office, give them to her in the morning again. You should be able to arrange the same thing in AL.

Juliebug Nov 2014
I'm so glad that I put my mothers hearing aids on our homeowners policy. Mom lost one in transit to the hospital. Insurance replaced the lost one, and I didn't even have to pay a deductable.

N1K2R3 Aug 2013
Tell the nurses and caregivers in the facility to put the hearing aids on the night table while your Mother is sleeping or bathing. She can retrieve them herself, or the caregivers can put them on her. That's one of the tasks that you are paying for, isn't it?

AZenHog Aug 2013
Miller, bigoted statements like yours have no place on this forum. I am reporting your post. Good and bad caregivers are not determined by race or nationality. Having worked in an acute psychiatric hospital with geriatric patients I can tell you things get lost or disappear. I would often find a patients glasses on another patient. The staff usually tries to do the best they can under very difficult conditions. .We always did our best to take care of patients valuables but sadly things do disappear.

Now to CarolLynn's problem. I wish there was an easy answer to this problem. I live with my mom and have more than once had to hunt for glasses or dentures. We even had to replace one set of dentures and they are not cheap! Asking the staff to keep her hearing aids or glasses in a safe place is probably the best advice. This may not always happen because the information may not get passed on with shift change. Also, there are 3 shifts a day and if someone is sick or on vacation there may be part time or registry workers. Just keep in mind items may still might get lost. Painting the glasses sounds like a good idea but harder to do with hearing aids and impossible with dentures. As far as glasses, I would get a second cheap pair for back up. Take care of yourself and try to be patient.

alfagetti Jan 2014
we bought an earstay ... earstay.ca ... it attaches the hearing aid to my mother's blouse and if it falls out it isn't lost, it just dangles from her clothing. this has saved us a huge amount of money.

CarolLynn Aug 2013
I don't know if this is the case with your mom, but after we had to put my dad in a locked memory nursing home, everything seemed irritated him. He was there a total of 16 months but within the first month he threw his glasses over the 8 foot high fence somewhere into a slope of land where deep thick ivy was planted. We could never find his glasses. They had been really good ones but now that he was on Medicaid, they replace them with a completely different style that works too different looking and my dad would never wear them. Shortly thereafter, he somehow lost his dentures (he had no teeth and war full dentures) and those were never replaced. So, he went the last at least 13 months of his life not seeing well and not able to chew properly. He had to have soft foods which I'd never been his preference. He went in at 219 pounds and died weighing 147. Not providing him with things that could have made his life a little easier what is justified and rationalized in that baby leave he would just throw them away again. There are so many things to deal with when someone is that ill. My mother was the primary person in charge and she didn't have a lot of energy left. But if I had it to do over again, I believe I'd fight a little harder.

geedeeooo Aug 2013
I make dentures and I know that there is a way to put the patient's name on them, even if they have had them for a long time. Just take them to a denturist or dentist who can send them to a dental lab for labeling. P.S. I agree with the statement about being offended at the bigotry toward "green card immigrants". DebMath stated that her loved one was in a "beautiful rehab facility for seven weeks" and her hearing aids didn't appear to have been removed that whole time. Anyone who has taken care of a dementia patient knows how hard it is to get everything "right". I can't imagine having to take care of a lot of people with dementia all at once, each with their own unique situations and requirements. Of course, as with ANY situation involving people there are differing degrees of compassion and empathy. Until Miller works in a NH I don't think they should make those type of blanket statements!

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