Chance to win £250 - share with Specsavers - as a hearing care centre - your tips and experience on encouraging older family members to have a hearing test NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

We have been working with the team at Specsavers - as a hearing care centre - over on our sister site, Gransnet on all things hearing.

There's some great content here.

Specsavers say "It's no secret that there's a bit of a stigma surrounding age-related hearing loss - not surprisingly; and the clue is in the name, that it's age-related.... so having hearing loss isn't something that people always want to admit to as they get older. This can be a big drawback when it comes to getting the issue sorted. Left unresolved though, hearing loss can affect every aspect of life, especially the things that are most important such as relationships with family and friends".

With this in mind, if you suspect age related hearing loss in a relative or close friend, what would you do? Have you ever had to gently encourage your parents to go and get their hearing tested? Did they realise it was bad or were they in denial? What signs of age related hearing loss have you noticed with your family?

We know from a recent survey with gransnetters that this is an issue for a large number - especially at Christmas

Please share any tips and experience of this on this thread and you would win a £250 voucher for the store of your choice (from a list).

thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

Please add your comment by 2 January 2015. Standard Insight T&Cs apply

There was one time (I think it was some hearing charity) that had a number to dial for a over the phone hearing test where they would play different bleeps and tones and you pressed 1 if you can hear it or 2 if you can't. The whole family did it on loudspeaker which encouraged my 70 year old Dad to join in. He couldn't hear certain sounds so found himself calling that number again when he was alone. That enabled him to do it from the privacy of his own home and when he went for his eye check up as part of DVLA driving requirement for his age, he enquired about his hearing again at the optician. I think having that phone test and also doing it at the optician certainly makes it far easier and less daunting.

I have partial deafness and find getting treatment quite hard. My father really needs a hearing test due to age related deafness but point blank refuses. It took him 5 years to get his eyes checked for new glasses.

I'm at a complete loss as to how to persuade him, especially as my hearing is not great and I struggle to know how bad his is becoming.

This is a very difficult area and I really don't know how to move it forwards.

Using hearing aids can take some getting used to and some people leave it too late, so that they can't learn to weigh up the benefits and use hearing aids when it can help them the most.

I know a lot of hard of hearing and deafened people who do use hearing aids. They seem to be confident and independent types of people who dont want to be held back from enjoying life. Hearing aids do not improve hearing in the same way that prescription glasses correct poor eyesight! It's important to also educate friends and family about deaf awareness, otherwise it can have a pretty disastrous affecz on a person's social life, especially if a lot of their social interactions are in large groups or crowded places.
There is a lot of unwanted 'recruitment' of background noise with a hearing aid, as well as the thing you are trying to listen to, so family members need to be aware of this.
However, digital hearing aids are much better than the old analogue style ones, and are definitely worth trying, and keep putting it off because you don't feel old enough yet!

I would say that the test will be very simple and that hearing aids are not as bulky as they used to be and so can be discreet when worn. It would be such a big benefit it would be silly not to see if one could help.

Not really advie but my mum was keen to have a hearing test so bullied my dad into going along for one with her for 'support' as she called it. He was absolutely furious when she came out with perfect hearing and he had to be fitted with an aid a few weeks later. It did amuse me though!

My elderly mother has, for years, been accusing us of mumbling and saying "Ehh?" to every other sentence. It came to a head on a recent family holiday, when she was getting angry about things I hadn't even said.

She finally agreed to speak to her GP about a hearing test:
DM "My daughters say I need to get my hearing checked."
GP "Do you think there's a problem?"
DM "No, it's just my daughters who say there is."
GP "Oh, well, I wouldn't worry about it then."

Not very helpful, especially when an eventual test showed DM has a SEVERE hearing loss, and can only really hear vowels.

A simple routine screening could easily avoid this problem of denial.

Grandad can never hear the kids speaking and the volume on the tv is always too loud, Grandad has to wear earphones but he's finally got hearing aids. All we need to do now is get him to wear them.

Talk to them about new technology and how hearing aids are not as big as they used to be - they are very discreet now

I took the bull by the horns when a new shop opened near my mum-in-law. She always mentions any new shops that open and said they were offering free tests so I said I was going to have one myself and would she like to come too. Once out of earshot (excuse the pun), I even told the tester that I didn't think there was anything wrong with my hearing and what I was up to. He thought it was a great idea! She didn't have it done that day but saw how easy it was and not at all intrusive or frightening. That spurred her on to go back herself and get the problem sorted.

when broaching the subject with my dad i said what would happen if my mam fell upstairs or in the garden and he couldn't hear her shouting for him just that made him realise to stop being vain and get his hearing tested he ended up with 2 hearing aids and he hears so much more

never had a problem persuading mum and various aunts and uncles I just told them I had already said something several times but I did turn the sound down on the TV and radios without them knowing that seemed to nudge them in the right direction, that and having a laugh with them about it all

Reading this thread with interest hoping to pick up some ideas. Knowing my Mum, unless she thinks its her idea, its not going to happen. took me 6 - 10 months to gently pursuade her she needed a cleaner in once a week to help out. I agree with others that it would be really useful if the GP could include a basic test when they see them. They can do this, because my GP tested my hearing when I was having some ongoing earache....I have lost some hearing in one ear, but not enough to worry about.

I think there is definitely stigma about hearing loss and hearing aids, which is strange when you think of the proportion of older people who wear glasses without any drama. Having hearing tests in the same place as eye tests isa great idea, and I hope will encourage people to get their hearing checked in the same way they get eye tests.

One of our elderly relatives was incredibly surprised by the size of their new hearing aid, and I think that relaying that experience will help with any future discussions of a similar type. It took time and gentle persuasion to get anywhere near getting this particular relative to get help!

You can suggest a hearing test to someone you feel may need help, but in the end its up to them. Signs such as shouting, asking you to repeat or a tv volume up very loud could all be signs of failing hearing. I would just make suggestions about getting it checked offer to take them so they have company.

My Mum keeps saying Huh to everybody who's speaking so we've told her she needs a hearing test

My MIL couldn't accept she had hearing problems at first, it was only when the grandkids started making comments like why don't you listen to us any more that she took action, and now regrets not doing something about it earlier. I think you should have a conversation with someone if you are concerned about their hearing and lots of gentle encouragement seems to work best.

I grew up with my dear late father wearing 2 hearing aids after a work accident left him deaf, so I had only ever known him buying and replacing hearing aids and getting his ears tested regularly. I wouldn't have an issue in broaching the subject with another elderly relative should the need arise.

My grandma used to talk about how strange it was that she could hear people better when she had her glasses on, it took a bit of persuasion to get her to see that her hearing was the trouble an she'd taken to lip-reading. She now has two hearing aids (from Specsavers) and hearing through them now she has come to realise just how serious her hearing loss it - her TV volume has been dropped from a booming '80' down to a loud but bearable '20' now.

My dad has also just (2 weeks ago) had hearing aids (also from Specsavers) and they are really cool ones, they don't comletely fill his ears, they just have a little tube that simply boosts the specific frequencies he has a reduction in as he has loss in the higher range but not in the lower, he loves them.

Hearing loss is so gradual it is really hard to notice that it is happening, there really should be a screening programme.

my mum has hearing loss that she refuses to acknowledge it drives me mad, she always asks me to repeat what I have said and has the tv really loud. I have tried to talk to her without any success. I think its the stigma of a hearing aid that puts her off seeking help and also its a gradual loss and you learn to compensate, I will keep trying to encourage her to seek help and hopefully she will

My parent needed no encouragement to take a hearing test, I think the frustration of not being able to hear people on the phone was enough to make them do something about it, they now both have annoying audible chiming earpieces, the funny thing is, they can't hear the noise the device makes.

i suffer from sleeping problem and depression. over a years of taking medication my hearing became oversensitive. i can't stand any noise, every little one annoys me extremaly. i was looking for help and didn't find it. I would like to ask Specsavers to cosider people like me in their services. i use earplugs but this is not enough. i think there are lots of people with similar problem who need help.

I was quite blunt with my dad. As we are an army family and rarely home our phone conversations were getting ridiculous as he never knew what we were saying. In the end I made him an appointment and mailed it to him, with a note saying he must get his hearing checked out. He phoned saying that he knew he did and kept the appointment!

My nan suffers from hearing loss but she's aware of it now. However for quite a few years she would have the TV on really loud and thought everyone else had it down too low x

DM now wears hearing aids and they made a huge difference to her confidence. However, getting them set correctly took months of adjustment and repeat appointments so it took her almost a year to become comfortable with them I'd say. She has recently moved house which has highlighted just how variable ths nhs hearing services are: the nhs trust where she lives now doesnt use the same aids so they can't maintain her aids or even give her replacement tubes and batteries. She has to startagain from scratch to be fitteed with new aids which is long winded and very frustrating. Nearly a year after moving house she has the new aids but they aren't yet correctly adjusted. During the last year she has had to suffer poor hearing as she couldn't acces the maintenance needed. The whole thing seems like a ridiculous waste when her old aids were fine for her.

I think it's great that hearing aids are now offered at the opticians. My mother was concerned about having a hearing aid, put off by feeling old and worried that it would be obvious to everyone that she was wearing one. When I saw hearing aids advertised at the opticians, it was easy to suggest shopping for new frames and then even easier to direct her over to see the hearing aids. Problem solved. Well done Specsavers.