I am assuming this is a common issue with dementia sufferers. But my partner and I are not sure how best to cope.
My father in law is becoming increasingly deaf - on top of the memory problems - and about six months ago was fitted with an NHS hearing aid. (I gather these are easily as good as anything that can be bought privately and are worth about £2,000.)
He has never really got the knack of putting the aid in his ear - or replacing the batteries. So he normally says it isn't working. So we change the batteries. But in any case he will only wear the gadget when he comes out with us, and my husband helps to put it in. He claims that this hearing aid is 'just a cheap one' - and that when he can afford it he would like to get 'a proper one', that he will then wear all day. Apparently these 'proper ones' magically sit inside the ear without any visible loop on the outside. (Having a visible hearing aid apparently makes you look old, and at 93 he has no wish to look old.)
Now we are getting similar problems about his TV/DVD player. He has lost the ability to use the remote control and also struggles to put the DVDs in manually. He has decided that the TV and DVD are broken, and wants us to take them back to the rental company and get a replacement. Both the TV and DVD are fine, but I don't think we can convince him of this. As watching old DVDs seems to be one of his few remaining pleasure, it's a shame that he doesn't seem to be able to work the machine any more. (He lives in sheltered accommodation, but is currently refusing to have a carer on the ground that he doesn't need one, and is managing fine...)
This rather depends on your definition of fine. Certainly he is forgetting to eat, leaves food lying around to go off, gets faint and dizzy and is having falls.
My father in law is becoming increasingly deaf - on top of the memory problems - and about six months ago was fitted with an NHS hearing aid. (I gather these are easily as good as anything that can be bought privately and are worth about £2,000.)
He has never really got the knack of putting the aid in his ear - or replacing the batteries. So he normally says it isn't working. So we change the batteries. But in any case he will only wear the gadget when he comes out with us, and my husband helps to put it in. He claims that this hearing aid is 'just a cheap one' - and that when he can afford it he would like to get 'a proper one', that he will then wear all day. Apparently these 'proper ones' magically sit inside the ear without any visible loop on the outside. (Having a visible hearing aid apparently makes you look old, and at 93 he has no wish to look old.)
Now we are getting similar problems about his TV/DVD player. He has lost the ability to use the remote control and also struggles to put the DVDs in manually. He has decided that the TV and DVD are broken, and wants us to take them back to the rental company and get a replacement. Both the TV and DVD are fine, but I don't think we can convince him of this. As watching old DVDs seems to be one of his few remaining pleasure, it's a shame that he doesn't seem to be able to work the machine any more. (He lives in sheltered accommodation, but is currently refusing to have a carer on the ground that he doesn't need one, and is managing fine...)
This rather depends on your definition of fine. Certainly he is forgetting to eat, leaves food lying around to go off, gets faint and dizzy and is having falls.