I'd love some advice about how best to manage dementia and hearing loss.
A bit of background. Dad (88) has mixed dementia which, thankfully, has been pretty stable for the last year. Long may it continue....
He only has hearing in one ear (been like that since his 20's) and in recent years has had several instances of 'sudden' deafness brought on by a build up of wax. After syringing, his hearing has improved substantially, although he's always had a tendency to some hearing issues.
About 4 weeks ago, it happened again - just woke up one morning, profoundly hard of hearing again. Unfortunately the syringing doesn't appear to have worked this time. A GP visited and said there was still a small amount of wax right down by the eardrum and to persevere with the ear drops. But so far it hasn't made much difference. Hopefully a district nurse will have another look on Friday.
But meantime poor Dad is pretty cut off from human contact. A TV amplifier device has been an absolute godsend - Dad wears headphones with 'his' volume and I can watch TV with him, using the normal TV sound. But conversation (not that we had a lot before!) is virtually a no-no. I have to almost shout in his ear for him to hear anything. It's certainly not helping his dementia and I'd like to try and improve the situation for him. He's getting more any more fed up with the deafness, aware that he's missing conversation.
So what to do? I've not got Dad into a hearing practice (Clinic? Shop?) as it's not certain that his hearing has completely gone yet - but if nothing happens district nurse wise, then I'll try and get him in next week. ( Apparently it's six months to get an Audiology appointment on the NHS) One of my concerns though is how he will manage hearing aids.
I've been researching the different types available. The super-small ones may be great appearance-wise, but with dad's lack of dexterity in his arthritic hands, I fear for ease of daily use. And, looking at other threads here on the forum, it seems that PWD and hearing aids are not an easy combination anyway.
But given Dad's still at home, is aware of his hearing loss, and can still deal with picking up some new technology if it's very simple, I'd like to try and see what might be possible to help his hearing loss. On the other hand, hearing aids don't come cheap and I don't want to waste Dad's money on something he won't be able to manage.
Obviously, a hearing specialist can advise on which option might be best for dad, but I'd love to hear from carers about how they've dealt with hearing loss in their caree - the things that might have worked (at least for a while) and any learning along the way.
A bit of background. Dad (88) has mixed dementia which, thankfully, has been pretty stable for the last year. Long may it continue....
He only has hearing in one ear (been like that since his 20's) and in recent years has had several instances of 'sudden' deafness brought on by a build up of wax. After syringing, his hearing has improved substantially, although he's always had a tendency to some hearing issues.
About 4 weeks ago, it happened again - just woke up one morning, profoundly hard of hearing again. Unfortunately the syringing doesn't appear to have worked this time. A GP visited and said there was still a small amount of wax right down by the eardrum and to persevere with the ear drops. But so far it hasn't made much difference. Hopefully a district nurse will have another look on Friday.
But meantime poor Dad is pretty cut off from human contact. A TV amplifier device has been an absolute godsend - Dad wears headphones with 'his' volume and I can watch TV with him, using the normal TV sound. But conversation (not that we had a lot before!) is virtually a no-no. I have to almost shout in his ear for him to hear anything. It's certainly not helping his dementia and I'd like to try and improve the situation for him. He's getting more any more fed up with the deafness, aware that he's missing conversation.
So what to do? I've not got Dad into a hearing practice (Clinic? Shop?) as it's not certain that his hearing has completely gone yet - but if nothing happens district nurse wise, then I'll try and get him in next week. ( Apparently it's six months to get an Audiology appointment on the NHS) One of my concerns though is how he will manage hearing aids.
I've been researching the different types available. The super-small ones may be great appearance-wise, but with dad's lack of dexterity in his arthritic hands, I fear for ease of daily use. And, looking at other threads here on the forum, it seems that PWD and hearing aids are not an easy combination anyway.
But given Dad's still at home, is aware of his hearing loss, and can still deal with picking up some new technology if it's very simple, I'd like to try and see what might be possible to help his hearing loss. On the other hand, hearing aids don't come cheap and I don't want to waste Dad's money on something he won't be able to manage.
Obviously, a hearing specialist can advise on which option might be best for dad, but I'd love to hear from carers about how they've dealt with hearing loss in their caree - the things that might have worked (at least for a while) and any learning along the way.