Hearing aid recommendation for person with dementia?

I just bought my Mom her last set of new hearing aids. She is diagnosed with Alzheimers and lives in A.L. BUT....she has worn aids for the past 20 years, and is still 'with it' enough to be concerned about caring for them. The reason we bought new ones is because her last set was 'behind the ear' with wires, and since she is on 24/7 O2 now, she was pulling them off her ears every time she had to remove, or put on or readjust her O2 tubing. We went back to totally in her ear style as she had with her first set. She does, due to age of 91 yrs, still have trouble with these, opening battery door and changing the batteries.....so I help with that and with trouble shooting when she doesn't think they work. I did it because I have read that being hard of hearing contributes to the progression of dementia....and can even lead to dementia in some people who become very hard of hearing young in life, because, without hearing aids, they start to sort of live inside their own heads and become more and more removed from their surroundings. That makes a lot of sense to me as both a retired RN, and as one who wears one hearing aid, to mask tinnitus in one ear. The constant noise in that ear, was keeping me from focusing already, without any dementia symptoms. If hearing loss is not too bad, I agree that some of the types of hearing assist discussed before me, purchased on Amazon etc, would be helpful. They did not work for my Mom, because she only has 10% normal hearing in one year, and 40% in the other ear without any professional hearing corrections....and I really do believe that all the years she was known to be hard of hearing and refused to spend money on aids, DID add to her dementia....just by my own and other family members watching how she acted all those years before getting aids....compared to much improvement afterwards, but still with recognized memory issues and general mentation issues.

For the elder with dementia, a set of hearing aides is NOT going to fix their brain. JoAnn, the elder doesn't have to be "with it" because the audiologist does the work of adjusting the digital aide. However, I do agree with you that your mother wouldn't be able to pass the test done in a sound-proof booth. She even may "flip out" being in there!

My last pair came from mdhearingaides There seems to be a good many on line companies. Mine are digital and behind the ear. Dealing with hearing loss is not easy.

I would recommend the Lyric hearing aids. They require no maintenance on the part of the patient. The hearing aid specialist inserts the hearing aids into the ear. They remain in the ear for the life of the battery, which can be about 2 months. Then you go back to the provider who replaces it with a new set of hearing aids. It is analog so is not as good as digital hearing aids. But it is better than nothing. You buy an annual subscription, which is quite high, but, you may feel it's worthwhile.

For my Mother in law's 90th birthday all of her children came home to celebrate and drool over her things....They wanted to put her in a nursing home because she was so confused. She was also VERY independent...Long story short, after they all left she FINALLY consented to seeing about a hearing aid....She did get one....and her quality of life went up a great deal!...She died last year at almost 95..still driving, still living in her own home by herself and still sewing. I do not think any of that would have been possible without the hearing aids. It made a difference in her balance too. I never wanted to be pushy but I WISH I had been a bossy old bat 10 years sooner. Had I been she would have felt so left out of things with the other members of her family.....

FYI the hearing aids I suggested are digital and can be programmed on your computer, iPad or smart phone. It also tests your hearing and adjusts accordingly.
These are Not sound amplifiers.
Of course any testing would need to be done by the care giver.
For me it was a breeze adjusting my moms aids according to her frequency loss.
The cost was under $500.00 and once in awhile can be purchased with 20% off. Which takes away a bit of the sting if they get lost or mishandled.
Hope this clears up any misconceptions.

The sound amplifiers, no matter if they are the ones that are bigger, or the ones that look like hearing aides only correct to a certain level and type of sound, and they amplify every sound like those it corrects within a very large distance, which will in fact do more damage to the ears instead of good. That's the same with the kid that has their music ear buds on and turned up too high. That will worsen their problems later on in life. Medicare will generally pay for an audiogram, if the doctor orders. It. Their are many places on the internet that have their labs ran by audiologists and are happy to fill the hearing aides order by the specific audiogram you fax or mail them. They are very nice hearing aides and work very well. I know because I have been wearing them for a long time now. They can be so specialized to help with certain types of dizziness or the loud and bothersome tinnitus some people have. I have never been able just to walk in an office here in Mississippi and have â hearing test and afford their sales pitches, but I've brought what I did order back into their office and they were amazed at the quality of product I had. You also can get them digital which is the newer technology in hearing aides, or analog which is the older, and perhaps a little simpler type of hearing aids. Anyone interested in knowing the two companies I have ordered from can e-mail me off the site and I will share their names with you.

I also have a company that sends me their catalogs that have lots and lots of things to help people with these type of disabilities have an easier lifetime. I have a device under my pillow that I can set as my alarm clock. It shakes at whatever time I have it set for and would also do the high school student a lot of good when they miss their alarms. This type of thing can also be for a fire alarm during the night. They also have some that will alarm (with many different ways to set it to
"alarm", and shine a super bright light to let you know to get out Now) also an alarm to let you know someone steps on your doormat. . The have radios, telephones, TV personal amplifiers that really do work with your hearing aids on. Lots of these things can make life just a bit easier with these situations. If you would like a catalogue just e-mail me about that, also. The8r are so many little extras that I would like to have that I often get lost in that catalogue with just a little money to spend. The only problem I have with it is finding the darn magnifying glass as the print is small.

Assuming you're her caregiver, do you really want to add this to your list of headaches? I think not.

Try Sound Solutions off the internet. They are cheap and easy to use. I got one for mom who loves it. And I got one for me who needed it most. I can tell you there is no learning curve with these hearing aids, they are basic, simple and deliver quality sound.
Trust me I have a whole drawer of hearing aids which cost thousands and were totally useless to me.
It's nice to see a company produce a great quality hearing aid that many can afford.
The best aid they have is the behind the ear one, which is the most comfortable hearing aid I have ever worn. Many times I forget I have it on and almost took a shower with it...yikes. But that's how comfortable it is.
Just key in the name above with a dot com it let the hearing begin.

With Mom, it's not her hearing it's the Dementia. Her brain is just not processing what is being said. My opinion, they do not make hearing aides that are easy to use. Now being digital the person has to "be with it" for the tech to be able to adjust the aides for that person. Moms doctor said she wouldn't even be able to take the hearing test. She just went to the neurologist and he said he feels her hearing is OK after testing her. Hearing aids are expensive. Have her checked for wax. It will cause problems.

It's not easy to get used to the differences in sounds when new hearing aids are introduced, so some of your answer depends on the stage of the person who needs them.

As was mentioned, hearing better would help significantly if the person can adjust. Sadly, there's no way to know ahead of time. I'm hoping that some of these responses helped you.
Carol

We got Mom state-of-the-art, self-adjusting hearing aids before her dementia got bad, but still were too late for her to adapt to the changes.

Whenever we went out she would tell me over and over how she wished I could hear all the noises going on. Of course, I could hear all the noises but she wasn't used to them and hated it.

I have to give her credit for trying because she wore the things day after day to please me, but there was no change in her expressions of discomfort until finally I got sick of it and put them away. Her trying them out -- although she insisted she couldn't insert the devices herself -- was especially impressive since she made it clear SHE did not have a problem with hearing, that it was OUR problem that we had to speak loudly.

She wouldn't admit it, but she learned to read lips. So if she could see us clearly she often could understand what was being said.

That was 10 or 12 years ago and now the dementia has progressed and her hearing seems worse. Sometimes. I suspect she's selective about what she can 'hear' and what she can't. When I've said something to her, up close and loud, and she asks me to repeat it, most likely she's messing with me to amuse herself. That aspect of her personality seems unchanged by advancing memory loss.

I like the idea shared by MACinCT of keeping an amplifier on hand for use when they visit. Brilliant.

Good luck to you for a solution which works for everyone.

I'd recommend getting the hearing aids to prevent the increase of dementia. If your mom enjoys listening to people around her and seeing lots entertainment shows such as TV, movies, etc., then she probably remember to put the aids in her ears.

My Mom always wore a hearing aid. She started out with 2, bit she lost one and that was before she had LBD. So, when I would talk to her and she couldn't hear me, I turned up her hearing aid or changed the batteries. She couldn't remember to do either one. I told the staff to take it out of her ear at night, and put it in a box I had given them to keep it safe. There were never any problems after that. But I am not so sure she cared about what was going on around her. I don't know if hearing was that important to her and I don't know if she knew the difference. At least with the hearing aid, we could communicate, and that was important to me.

Do hearing aid clips adequately help keep the hearing aids on the person with dementia? They're what we're going to try next. My mother "lost" her brand new hearing aids : ( -- we're picking up a replacement pair today, equipped with the clips, etc. I hope they work. I'm wondering if the solution is to have her wear hearing aids only when we know she'll be around others, but I can't imagine asking the assisted living staff to put them in and take them out before and after each meal, activity, etc. It's frustrating because I know she misses out on a lot when they're not in but we can't afford to keep replacing them when she "loses" them so quickly. The frustrating thing is not knowing what she did with them. Knowing that someone microwaved theirs shows how wide open the possibilities are.

behind the ear amplifier - they make clip for them that attaches to your collar. look up 'hearing aid clips'

JanetG1, My Mother became hard at hearing after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Mam must have asked Me countless times to SPEAK UP, I CANT HEAR YOU...eventually I discovered Mother became lost in the conversation when there was two or three People talking, simply because Mam was not able to process what was being said therefore I raised My voice and I spoke very slowly, and I reminded every other Person to do the same when talking in Mothers presence, and for only one Person to speak at any given time. It worked a treat for Mam and all of Us. Another tip when talking with a Demensia or Alzheimers sufferer..always speak to Them at Their Level, and mantain eye contact. Never stand over Them. I'm not an expert but I found Myself thrown into the deep end with NO HELP, therefore I joined this wonderful Age Action Site and I had so much to Learn. I'm convinced if I did not have the aid of all this wonderful Site with the Input from all the dedicated Caregivers, I would not have been capabable of Caring for Mam for the last three years of Her Long and beautiful Life here in Our own home. Thank You all so much. With gratitude from John Joe.

My husband used hearing aids years before he developed dementia, and was able to continue with them (often with reminders) throughout his dementia. I worked very hard with him on keeping track of the aids. "In your ears or in their box" was our mantra. In spite of that we had to replace them at least three times. (Once when he microwaved them. Sigh.) The hearing aids really did help us communicate and I think the struggle was worth it.

My mother, on the other hand, did not use hearing aids before she developed dementia symptoms. I'm not at all sure that she would have been able to learn to deal with them. Even her dentures, which she'd had for more than 60 years, seemed to confuse her sometimes.

You'll have to judge the situation for your mother, but unfortunately some persons with dementia do not do well with new devices such as earing aids, c-pap masks, etc.

I recommend not spending a whole lot on hearing aids because it's likely that they will in fact get lost very quickly. The upside is that once your mom is able to hear better she may seem less confused at times.