It is an unfortunate fact that people are happy to put their hearing on the back burner. While if your family member needed glasses, they would get them. Or they needed to have dental treatment; it would most likely be booked – hearing seems to fall by the wayside.
A study by the International Journal of Audiology found that there are up to 80% of 55-74-year-olds who would benefit from hearing aids. While many people know that their hearing is declining and choose to do nothing about it, others simply aren’t aware.
Here are some of the reason you might hear behind not wearing a hearing aid
- A hearing aid is too expensive
- I don’t like how hearing aids look
- My hearing isn’t that bad
- They are too hard to use
- Uncomfortable to wear every day
It is important that you support the person, and rather than tell them why they are wrong, look for solutions that answer each of their issues.
What You Can Do To Help
Time to talk
Find some time in your week to have a real discussion about it. It can feel like you are badgering them into wearing a hearing aid, and that can often end in disaster. Get to the bottom of why they don’t want to wear it. It can help to speak to an audiologist to get the facts about why they should be wearing a hearing aid.
Combat their anxiety with facts and benefits.
One of the key areas that you can impress upon them the seriousness of the issue is that cognitive decline is linked with hearing loss.
In it together
You are playing a supporting role, but it is important that the person knows that it doesn’t just impact them. When a person has hearing loss, they can often forget how it impacts other people. It means that people around them need to have their own TV and radio at a higher volume. They may often have to repeat themselves.
Everyone is adapting, which will make your family member less likely to realize there is a problem.
If everyone is making compromises, they may not truly realize the extent of their hearing loss or how it affects those around them.
Offer in-person support
It may be that your family member is confident about the language used when they are discussing their hearing. In this case, you can offer and insist that you arrange or attend their next appointment with them. You can write down any questions they may have in advance so that you can cover everything you need.
It is also a good idea for you to take notes so that you can go over what was said, what your next steps are, and how you can make the process easy.
Your audiologist will be able to let your family member try on different hearing aids, hear more about how to take care of them, and more.
Benefits
Of course, the biggest bonus is that they will have better hearing. However, that can happen in a lot of different ways. Hearing aids are now cooler and have more utility than ever. And while not everyone will want every piece of technology, but there are some great options:
- There are hearing aids with fall alerts; they can send out a notification if the wearer has an accident
- Bluetooth connections can connect your hearing aid to your phone or tablet so that you can listen in the highest quality available
- There are some hearing aids that can track your activity, including the number of steps
Types of hearing aid
Many people still consider the old-fashioned hearing aid styles. There are a number of styles that they can choose from. An audiologist will go through your options with you, but here are a few that you might be able to consider:
- In the ear (ITE): These are the in the ear type of hearing aid. These come in two styles, one that fills the outer ear and the other that only fills the lower part of the ear.
- In the canal (ITC): Is a custom hearing aid that fits totally inside the ear and can barely be seen.
- Completely in the canal (CIC): CIC hearing ais fits inside the ear and is the least visible option.
- Behind the ear (BTE): The BTE is the more traditional hearing aid style
There are other options; if you want to find out more about how you can help your family member, then contact Evolution HEARing today at Charlottesville, VA: (434) 216-3599.
