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

I remember my dad having to be dragged to the doctors yet he would not change it for the world now

One of the things I feel is good about hearing aids at opticians is the ability to address the age old hearing aid/specs problem in one stop. Lots of people really struggle with both so being a bit more holistic about it has to be a good thing

I haven't had to, so far, but my approach with someone reluctant to get their hearing tested would be to liken it to going for an eye test, or a dental checkup - pretty much everyone does these, hearing checks are just the same.

My FIL can't hear you on the phone very well and has the TV on so loud but insists he doesn't need a hearing test - my new year's resolution is to get him to have a hearing test!

I think it's a huge shame that getting a hearing test is so difficult with the NHS - Ring their 0845 number, press this, hold, transfer(Almost impossible is you have limited hearing - then wait months!
No wonder our parents are reluctant!
It took a small grandchild to ask in a very frustrated voice why nanny kept ignoring them for our aunt to acknowledge there was a problem!

Our family have been trying for years to get my grandfather to have a hearing test as his hearing is not great. He refuses point blank and since he's in his eighties I don't think he's going to change his mind now.

We are trying to encourage my 82 year old Gran to have a hearing test but we haven't been very successful so far. We have tried not to push the issue and keep it lighthearted but no luck so far. I don't know whether it may be the idea of wearing a hearing aid that deters her as she may view it as yet another sign of her getting older? We tried to convince her to get a stair lift installed but she was having none of that either!

My Great-Aunt lost her hearing and for the last few years of her life it made it almost impossible to communicate with her. We couldn't phone to invite her over and when we visited her she couldn't hear what we were saying so simply smiled and nodded lots. She didn't grasp that she had a problem and since we lost her this year it's even more sad that what time we had wasn't made the most of because her deafness shut her away.

I've really struggled with my own DM's hearing loss over the years but this year it came to a head when she had a bad ear infection and practically couldn't hear at all. She has finally agreed to a hearing test, swayed in large part by the huge choice of hearing aids now available. I think she was worried about the large ones which she sees as advertising her age (she is 72 but looks much younger).
It's hard and frustrating but I think approach it with kindness and tact.

Its not just older people who need hearing tests.My husband is in his mid forties and has bad hearing.This is not to be confused with 'selective hearing'. I told him to start putting some olive oil in his ears daily and the difference has been so amazing that he actually booked in for a hearing test!

I can really relate to this at the moment. I have been struggling to make my Dad "listen"!!! He gets worse when I bring it up. I've just had to be persistent and sympathetic. I've finally pursuaded him I can book an appointment but the next task is getting him there!

I've noticed signs of slight hearing loss in my husband. He loves watching dramas on the TV, but complains when he fails to hear quieter dialogue between characters. He also fails to hear his mobile phone ringing, even though it's turned up quite loud.

His yearly eye test is due shortly at Specsavers, and have suggested that he takes a hearing test while there. As the test is free, I think this is a great incentive for many to take advantage while their eyes are being tested.

There is no stigma if you need spectacles to help with seeing correctly, why should there be when hearing needs correction?

Hearing loss in an older family member has to be dealt with tactfully. It can be annoying but does have its funny side. Pear Tart is always called "Spare Part" in our house now!

We had often joked about my grandad needing a hearing test as we would have to repeat ourselves sometimes and sometimes even raise our voices a little and he would have the tv on stupid levels. Turning point was when my son hurt himself and my grandad didn't hear him. Hearring aids no longer need to be big, bulky and obtrusive

It took years and years to get my nan to consider a hearing aid. She simply didn't consider it necessary even though she clearly found it difficult to hear what we were saying and would often answer a question that we hadn't even asked - just trying to guess some suitable response!

In the end we had to tell her quite harshly that we couldn't talk to her any more until she had a hearing check because we were fed up of effectively talking to ourselves. It was a bit mean to make an ultimatum like this but we were really desperate. She ended up with a hearing aid and things really improved after that!

its so hard to try to convince older family members they should get a test, they dont want to admit they have a problem, it didnt matter how much i tried to bring it up nicely they kid of ignored that, in the end it was a case of you need to go your missing so much with what your grand children are saying its a crying shame. and in the end they were grateful they dont miss anything they say now.

I'd like to think that if anyone in our family needed their hearing checked they would go and get it done, but saying that I'm not sure where I would go to get it done so that would make it tricky

I find glamorous pictures of my mums favourite actresses who wear hearing aids and keep,showing them to her. She's taken to their hairstyles, maybe the hearing aids ell come next.

Try to get them to understand that sometimes we all need a little help, and in todays age were have these benefits that our ancestors of many years ago would have loved - people out there have put a lot of work into making life comfortable for those who may not hear as well as they used to - surely we shouldn't be letting all this hard work go to waste. Although with my dad, think if you just told him it was a chance to get some new high tech equipment there would be no stopping him

It's a shame that there's such a stigma attached to having difficulty in hearing-it's seen as a 'comedy' ailment attached to old age. My boss (mid-sixties) was losing his hearing and couldn't catch what the customers were saying to him. He eventually sought help when he misheard an order and got it dreadfully wrong resulting on one very unhappy customer. I reckon that without that episode he'd still be struggling on. I think that gentle persuasion is the way forward as older people can be very stubborn if feeling 'pushed' into taking a certain course of action. I know that I can be!

My boyfriend was 37 years old when he admitted to himself that there was a problem with is hearing. We began to notice that you needed to repeat things often and the volume needed to be turned up.
He went for testing and had to be given a hearing aid in one ear to start with. He has found this hard to accept that he is losing his hearing at such a young age and often doesn't wear it through embarrassment even though he knows it helps him enormously.
If he could afford to get the small digital hearing aids , I think it would change his life .

My Mum was always in denial but we found it hard to be in the same room as her at home because the TV was so loud. She would not accept she had a problem until on a visit to our house we set the volume on the TV very quietly and assured her we could hear it perfectly (although we couldn't!) It was enough for her to ring and book a hearing test the next day :)

I saw this topic and it leapt right out at me, as it's one I've encountered. Can't whisper anything to mum because she won't hear, also TV needs to be turned up higher.

A really difficult subject, only resolved by having a quiet chat and doing a bit of pleading! It was nearly impossible to make her realise hearing was becoming a problem, wonder if I'll be like that in the future!

Trying to subtly bring it up is essential as we don't want to hurt feelings but then again, trying to be too subtle can be annoyingly obvious. Perhaps bringing up one's own hearing difficulties lightheartedly can help.

My Mum has always suffered from poor hearing, ever since childhood, but she found it embarassing and tried to get by without help. As she got older, her hearing deteriorated even further and it took a lot of persuasion to get her to have her hearing tested. We got her to do it by saying that if she wore a hearing aid and didn't like it after a certain length of time, she would be no worse off than she was before, but hopefully, she might be better off. Now she has hearing aids in both ears and it has made such a huge improvement to her life that she wishes she had done it years ago.