My Mom has been in the nursing home for amost 2 years. The locals are wonderful to go visit the old folks. My mother is the type that latches onto them as her "best friends". Today one lady called to tell me she had made an appointment for mother at a Hearing Aid store. She wants to give mother the hearing aids from her deceased mother. She said it would cost us $200. But the nursing home would not let them take her to the apointment. (thank goodness) This woman barely knows mother but is now her best friend.? I go visit at least once a week and have a POA. ENT DR said no hearing aid will help her nerve damage in one ear. It just irks me that this woman would make such an appointment with out discussing with me first. Mother can be very convincing in getting other people to do her will. She is getting excellent care and I alone am tending to her every need. She just prefers friends to family, always has. She has some dimentia and also macular degeneration .
I think it is important that you stay in charge of the process but maybe Ms. Busybody could prove to be a friend who could imrpove Mom's quality of life a little bit, and you might not need to shut her out. Maybe the three of you could go out to see an audiologist for an update, bring the hearing aid, and get a look at whether it could prove suitable. And if busybody is just trying to sell an old hearing aid and get herself $200.00, that will likely become very obvious.
i'd tell her that although you appreciate it, & as your mom is on a limited income so there is no budget for a $ 200 used hearing aid and any & all expenditures or signatures by her have to be approved by you & or her doctor for medical in advance. Let's see what happens then.
The audiologist comes to my mom's IL every 6 weeks and then goes to the AL and NH sectors. All billing except goes thru Medicare or their secondary insurance. All the places we looked at had some sort of service like this just as they do for podiatrists (this is in Texas).
Oh and also you might keep in mind that if mom doesn't hear well, she
may have heard what she wanted to hear..........
Good Luck!
What I imagined, the hearing aid store would say to mom, this won't work but we have a much better (and more expensive one) that will work for you. Count me cynical, but what an emotional trap that would be. Since it is not something she is in dire need of I am just going to pass. At least my brother and sister back me up, so that is a help.
Background noise is a huge issue for most of us with SNHL, and phones are very good at elminiating that, so all I ever need on a hpne is to turn up the volume a little - that might not be the best screening test there.
That said, my own experience is that though my mom needs hearing aids badly, she could not manage them due to dementia and fine motor problems, and though theoretically the care facility staff were supposed to help her with them, I can count on one hand the number of times they were actually in use when I showed up. It was great those times not to have to shout at high volume all the time. And because her loss and mine are so similar, we did just use some that I had worn or something more off-the-shelf I pre-tested for her since we were not blessed with a traveling audiologist.
BUT - a big part of Mom's problem is that she truly believes that other people just mumble. She has a hard time thinking she has any actual problems, aside form being unable to walk. So overcoming any obstacles to hearing aid use is just not her personal priority. All the aids she has ever had are either lost, proken, or uncomfortable. It would be great if they could invent one that is real simple for seniors that actualy work.
Long story short, you may be absolutely and completely correct to skip the hearing aid if whatever hearing loss your mom has is not interfering with either conversation or her pleasure in listening to music. I haven't quite given up on my mom, as who knows when the ideal technology will come around. So if anyone who has writen really does have or know of insurance that would cover them, or ideas on how to get a hearing aid clinic to come out to our facility, that would be a huge help!