Are there any hearing aids for elderly parents that work well and feel comfortable?

My mum just paid around 3k for new hearing aids from SpecSavers. She says they are much more comfortable than her NHS set, and she does hear better with them. But a lot does depend on the degree of hearing loss (and also a willingness to wear the bloody things).

Phonak is one of the best brands you can get anywhere
The problem with buying generic ones online is that they are not programmed specifically for your hearing loss they are just amplifying whatever sounds come in. All the sounds not just voices

Going to get a proper hearing test means that whatever hearing aid he would get would be programmed specifically to his type of hearing loss

Also programs for the types of things he would like to do everyday

Hearing aids can connect to most modern TVs and you can even answer your phone using them
My hearing aids have a modern computer chip in them that brings voices to the front and noise canceling for sound you don't want to hear like traffic and tires on the pavement

If you haven't been a hearing aid wearer before I wouldn't wear them all day because it's overwhelming at first and it makes you tired and possibly a headache and that is when a lot of people give up because they think they're supposed to immediately wear them all day everyday

I find an easy way to start is to wear it for an hour when you get up in the morning and then increase the time

Hearing people can do a lot to help by not talking to the back of people's heads or trying to speak from another room or trying to speak when the TV is on at the same time.
always face them and look directly at their face and don't put your hands over your mouth
Depending on what model of phone they have you can get a live transcribe app or in my case Android the accessibility you press the little person in the corner and then it picks up the speech and converts it to text it is very handy at the doctor's office or out in publc

My dad has just got new hearing aids that charge up overnight (usb) I think.
These are much better because the batteries don’t seem to last that long.

Dad went cheap, and refused the follow up appointment. They weren't a success.

Pursuaded him to go to someone more expensive, who actually listen to the issues and got him the right thing. Like night and day.

My mum did this. She hates them.

My moulds are hypoallergenic skeletons, and very comfortable.

Yes, whilst the NHS do tend to be able to issue better hearing aids than they used to, the "service" is still very variable. I'd always prefer Specsavers over our local hospital audiology dept as the times I've used the hospital was the usual long waiting lists, lots of short appointments, disinterested staff, etc., whereas Specsavers was a lot more efficient and streamlined - all done in one session with easy to arrange follow ups for tweaks etc. I have to think that the hospital audiology dept is more for people with more serious ear/hearing problems rather than people with mild hearing loss - Specsavers is more geared up for the "average" person and you get the same NHS hearing aids, but a lot easier/quicker and less hassle/stress than dealing with NHS receptionists trying to get appointments then cancellations etc.

I've got a phonak one through NHS (one sided loss) which Bluetooths to my phone, has different settings for different environments. It's tuned to my particular problems and the mould was made for me.
Audiologist told me when I went in for a tuning check and I wasn't happy with it that I had to wear it everyday, as much as possible for a month to give my brain a chance to get used to the signals. Once I did that I got on much better. Whilst it felt odd to start with and can get hot and itchy I can wear it all day without noticing most days now.
I love the T setting for theatre, music....much improves my experience of live performance.

NHS do good ones now and your dad would qualify. You would get something even better and possibly more comfortable by going private. Generic ones off the internet likely to be rubbish.

This is similar to my NHS experience.
My hearing aids have silicon inserts which are very comfortable. Ask about that.
Just go to the GP …. That’s the starting point.

It can be really hard for older people to adjust to wearing aids. The noise, the discomfort, learning how to work them. I know quite a few who have gone through the process and spent considerable amounts of money, only for them to be left in the storage box.

I’ve worn hearing aids since I was 9. I couldn’t function without them, and wear them daily. But even I get fed up with having them in, and it’s getting harder as I get older.

But I guess if you go the NHS route at least your dad won’t be paying for them 🤷‍♀️. please do explain to him that he really shouldn’t judge them by the cheap internet ones, which are rubbish. To work well hearing aids need to be individually adjusted by a trained audiologist / technician. The NHS ones will be perfectly adequate for his needs, though the process might be slow and cumbersome. I’d definitely recommend getting rechargeable ones so he doesn’t have to fiddle with batteries. He probably doesn’t need Bluetooth.

I’ve gone private for years because at one point the NHS was still only offering analogue aids while the new digital aids were only available privately - and once I tried the latter there was no going back. The follow up customer service and access to top of the range aids has kept me going private. But I was NHS for years, and it was fine.

It is extremely frustrating to keep shouting at people who w/dont get their ears checked

Ive seen people start to cross roads when they cannot hear vehicles approaching

TV at full volume

End up writing signs in big black letters

SPECSAVERS !

Book appointment fot Spec savers they can do an audio assessment

Easy to fit & wear hearing aids

My Dad has NHS hearing aids through Specsavers and they do work.

He doesn't complain of discomfort either, so I assume they are comfortable.

The moulds don't suit everyone.
I have those tiny tubes and domes. After a lifetime of itchy ears I also got betnovate scalp lotion prescribed for my ears. Two drops once a month and no more itching.

It's a myth that NHS ones are inferior.

I have excellent hearing aids from the NHS. They are comfortable, barely noticeable, adjustable to different environments and have Bluetooth so my phone goes into them. Maintenance is free.

I first got a free test at Boots which confirmed my hearing loss. I resisted their efforts to sell me private hearing aids and took the information to the GP who referred me to audiology.
My original intention was to try NHS ones first and then buy "better ones" , however mine are so good I don't feel the need.

Some areas sub contract to Specsavers but you still need a referral.

I bought some rechargeable ones in the newspaper,push into your ears. really uncomfortable. sometimes fell out. COVID turned me deaf. audiology appointment at local hospital,then consultant. Then another audiology appointment and hearing aids.phonac. They aren't bad,you cannot feel them....my center matches them to your hair colour. The do itch at first,they told me they would, foreign body in your ear. They aren't perfect.. My late father paid thousands for his, didn't like them. My cousin had some private purchases,then NHS...which he said are better. Letter from the GP to Specsavers.

My SpecSavers ones are great a bit expensive but that was my choice, they also link directly to my phone (bluetooth) so I can just answer and put the phone down and it's all clear as a bell. I'm not deaf deaf just losing some of the high end so the aids make everything much clearer and I'm not the one saying can you turn the volume up a bit all the time. Mine just go on the back of your ear with a dangly bit that goes just inside the ear, easy to put on. You can get a free test at SpecSavers.

https://www.specsavers.co.uk/hearing/hearing-test

and prices

https://www.specsavers.co.uk/hearing/hearing-aids/hearing-aid-range?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=uk-always-on-performance-audio&utm_content=brand&gclsrc=aw.ds&ds_rl=1293573&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20500936734&gbraid=0AAAAADFZBqcboeUoegUZge0Re4XyJXghv&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6p_P_pqqlgMV3o5QBh0SlDP1EAAYASAAEgJUdvD_BwE

My dad is very deaf and has tinnitus. He has NHS hearing aids but they don’t seem to work that well. What has helped is using Live Transcribe on his mobile.

The newest model of Apple’s AirPods have a hearing aid function and you can do a hearing aid test to set them up. I have recently done this for my 83yo father while he waits for an NHS hearing aid. They were about £300.

I needed to buy a cheap iPhone and set him up with a separate Apple account, administered by me (otherwise he gets all the notifications/calls etc. from my device). I also bought him a string which attaches to both so that he doesn’t lose them if they fall out of his ears. It’s quite handy them being white rather than flesh coloured, as they’re easy to see if they do fall out.

They’re not perfect, and the battery needs to be recharged every 4-5 hours but they’re an affordable fix until he can get the NHS hearing aid. It’s made a noticeable difference to his mental health and cognitive function to be able to hear others and join in.

Be careful; there are lots of dodgy companies happy to take your money for rubbish products with no customer service or clear returns policy. We learned this to our cost, so definitely research using AI to check reviews etc.

My husband recently got NHS ones which work really well. And curiously I was talking with my hairdresser recently about them and he said he has 2 clients - friends who have recently got them. One paid thousands and the other got them on the NHS. The NHS ones work far better.

Of course they supply hearing aids still
And yes comfy. Lots of people wear them. Might take some getting used to at the start as he won't have worn them before so they won't be immediately comfortable if you see what I mean.
And yes they work!!
I don't really understand why you wouldn't get a referral through the GP as a starting point anyway as it costs nothing to get them on the NHS and your post says one of the obstacles was money.
It sounds like they'll be a lot better than the ones he's got now

I’m sure this is a good suggestion but check the brand of hearing aids first. Not all health authorities offer the Oticon brand. My area, for example provides Phonak aids.

As other PP have said the NHS do hearing aids that are specifically tuned to your particular hearing loss. I have a set and didn't find that it was an extraordinarily long wait or difficult process. The only thing I would advise is to ask to have the hearing aids that are moulded for his ears rather than the off-the-shelf inserts that are automatically given. I got those first of all, but didn't wear them regularly because my ears itched (which was due to them moving around in my ears). I wear my moulded ones every day and sometimes forget I'm wearing them. Also, depending on how old and computer-adept your DH is, you might want to consider getting a piece of kit that complements the NHS Oticon hearing aids that's called ConnectClip. It's basically a bluetooth transmitter that allows you to stream your phone or computer audio directly into your hearing aids. It also can act like an amplifying microphone that broadcasts to your hearing aids.

My DM has NHS ones - virtually invisible and weightless, comfortable, free batteries, individually tuned to her specific frequency needs.