Follow
Share

I'm looking for help making a decision about the seemingly endless replacement of Mom's hearing aids. She is 94 and living in a memory care facility, recently recovered from Covid, and is currently in hospice care. After a discussion today with a hospice counselor, I've learned that Mom has improved to the extent that she possibly will be taken off hospice care at her next evaluation! That was the good news. The bad news was in addition, I've been told she's lost yet another hearing aid. After having replaced them 5x since she was placed in memory care 3 years ago, I'm exasperated. I don't need to tell you how expensive hearing aids are.


I understand and recognize the consequences of not replacing the hearing aids. With verbal interaction curtailed, the rate of her dementia will accelerate. I don't want Mom to feel cut off in her interactions with others, etc. I do have compassion. There is money available for another replacement set of hearing aids, $4K, that comes with a one-time reduced replacement for $250. As I've said, we've done this replacement cycle multiple times. This doesn't count the many times I have searched her room with a fine-toothed comb and actually found the missing aids, but more often than not we never find them. It just feels hopeless now. Am I crazy to keep throwing money at hearing aids? Or am I cruel to say "Enough!"


Mom is gradually failing with her ADLs. She gets showering assistance, needs help occasionally with toileting, only partially ambulatory; sometimes okay with her walker but sometimes needs a wheelchair. I have enlisted the help of the staff to help Mom remove and put on her hearing aids, but still this happens. I wouldn't be surprised if they're not getting flushed down the toilet. How else could they completely vanish?


Has anyone else had a similar conundrum, and what did you do?

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.

23 Answers

Most
Helpful Newest
First Oldest
First
We bought renters insurance and added hearing aids as a scheduled item. We put the $6k value in the policy and that means if they are lost or stolen while in the retirement home - the policy will cover them for full replacement value. Cost is about $250/yr, but worth it.
Helpful Answer (6)
Report
Super ear is a $50 amplifier that comes with ear buds and headphones .Sound is adjustable and is used in hospitals and nursing homes. Worth a try!
Helpful Answer (3)
Report
My mother threw her hearing aids in the trash as she said they didn’t help. The cost was $8,000 and the replacement warranty had just run out. She didn’t wear them half of the time (although they did help). She couldn’t change the batteries so she had to rely on AL staff to change them. She’s 95 and often doesn’t realize that they needed changing. Fortunately I kept her old ones and she’s using them when she wants to which is 50% of the time. I doubt that we will replace her hearing aids again. Quality hearing aids are the only ones that work well with someone her age with severe hearing loss.
Helpful Answer (3)
Report
F
Frances73 Mar 2021
It's incredible how tiny and difficult to use hearing aids have become. I wish the designers would consider age and dexterity and make some with that in mind. Mom couldn’t get hers open to change the batteries, and half the time couldn’t figure out how to put them in. Her insurance only covered one model so we were stuck.
(2)
Report
My husband has hearing aids that cost us $10K. He never wore them.

Now he is past the point of being able to.

So, we live, somehow, without them. We can't have conversations. Oh well...

I'm ok with it. At this point I just want to make it through each day.
Helpful Answer (3)
Report
D
disgustedtoo Mar 2021
Can he still read? Even when mom's hearing aid was available and working, the "Boogie Board" helped a lot. Her hearing was REALLY bad and sometimes she couldn't understand, so I'd write it on the Board, she'd read it and respond verbally. It made communication a bit easier, the staff loved it and the dental hygienist actually bought some to use with their elder clients!
(1)
Report
I took care of an elderly person for a long, long time and in her case, her false teeth kept missing. I replaced them once or twice as the funds were there. But when it happened again, I had to face the fact she was very old and it would keep happening again and again. To keep replacing them in her condition was just burning up money for nothing. I did NOT replace them. You're mother is 94 and in memory care and in hospice. Please, just make her time as nice as you can but do NOT be a fool - accept what is and do NOT replace them.
Helpful Answer (3)
Report
D
disgustedtoo Mar 2021
You have SUCH a way with words.... NOT.

OP IS NOT A FOOL.

Plus, "I've learned that Mom has improved to the extent that she possibly will be taken off hospice care at her next evaluation!"

If her mother is going off hospice and can return to some kind of "normalcy", that would include socializing and interacting with others, including staff. Hearing CAN be very important in keeping the elders more active and engaged.

Others have provided some good and useful suggestions. Your comment is neither useful or good.

OP, if you read these messages, understand this is TYPICAL for this person (sometimes posts under other usernames, all ending in 2166.) Please ignore, as most posts from this one are rude and obnoxious, hardly useful.
(0)
Report
If her loss is mild to moderate, try aides bought on Amazon. My mom breaks hers. I replace with similar in the $50 per ear range. Mom seems content, and I do not have $$ angst.
Helpful Answer (2)
Report
Check with her medical insurance or your homeowner's insurance to see if "loss" an be covered. Also, talk with the memory care unit that you are concerned about the frequent "misplacement" of her hearing aids. Seems they should bear some of the financial responsibility.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report
Harpcat avatar
H
Harpcat Mar 2021
It would be her mother's renter's insurance not the daughter's insurance since she lives in memory care. If it isn't a medicaid funded memory care, then no they don't bear responsibility. Learned that the hard way.
(0)
Report
See 1 more reply
I'm convinced the exorbitant pricing of hearing aids is a racket, although part of the cost is probably the result of people wanting them to be tiny and inconspicuous. We've bought the inexpensive devices from Amazon for our parents, which worked quite well.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report
This is a timely topic! Just had my dad reevaluated and his hearing aids upgraded with a programmable kind (Signia) that can be paired with a microphone for my mom (Parkinson's) to wear on her clothing, so he can hear her when she needs help. But he can't make the controls work (early Alzheimer's, general orneriness), so we recalibrated the settings and volume so it's just mid-range. But now he's angry he can't control the volume. We go back on Tuesday for a check-in and after reading your advice, I may just try something cheaper from Amazon.

I'm new to the world of hearing aids and now I see there's much more than I knew. Thanks!
Helpful Answer (1)
Report
F
Frances73 Mar 2021
The speed that technology updates is frightening to me as I age. My mother couldn’t remember how to operate the TV remote. A friend just installed a thermostat with a remote app for her parents, now they can adjust it from afar when Dad messes it up. At some point I am going to become a Luddite and stop using tech!
(0)
Report
See 1 more reply
Sounds exactly like what happened with my mom. She lost 3 over the course of 5 years. While I understand the cost (believe me!), my worry about not replacing them was increased confusion and even more memory loss from not having the hearing aids. My mom's hearing loss is pretty severe and she gets agitated when she can't understand what people are saying.

Check with your mom's audiologist to see if the model she has can have little clips attached. We did that with my mom's and now have a small wire with little necklace-like fasteners on each hearing aid. The wire has a clip that can attach to her shirt, so if she pulls one out, it doesn't get lost. The only problem we've had is the caregivers pull her hearing aids out by the fastener and have broken them a few times. Fortunately, the warranty has usually covered the repair. Good luck!
Helpful Answer (1)
Report
See All Answers
This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.

Recent Questions


Popular Questions


Related Questions

Ask a Question
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter