Usable hearing aids for an elderly parent [View all]
Does anybody have any thoughts on hearing aids for elderly patients? (oh great here come the ad bots now)
My dad has those ultra expensive, AI-driven, adaptive, situational filter hearing aids that work through his smart phone.
Many HUGE problems:
1) He has problems using a smart phone at all, much less dealing with the issues of Bluetooth pairing and using the app. Even if he understood it, his eyesight is severely limited.
2) Even when the app is working and he is wearing the ear buds properly, it does not seem to be very effective. all the features just add confusion for him.
3) Tiny, expensive, difficult to handle, disposable batteries that have to be frequently replaced. They are hard for most adults to swap out and really impossible for a very elderly person with poor eyesight.
4) They are so expensive, that he has to constantly worry about losing them. Last time he was in the hospital, he lost one of his older ear pieces because he fell asleep while wearing them, it fell out and got stepped on.
Even the best technology is useless if the user cannot operate it.
As I understand it, hearing aids are now OTC, but I don't know much about them. I see lots of ads for much lower cost (
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