Caregiver in West Sacramento CA
September 25 through October 1 is World Hearing Aid Awareness Week. If you are a family caregiver for an elderly adult who is suffering from hearing loss and who has recently been prescribed a 
hearing aid, or who has been having difficulties getting accustomed to their hearing aid, this is the ideal time for you to find out ways that you can help them to get used to their hearing aid. In order for your parent to make the most of their hearing aid treatment and live the highest quality of life possible with this device they must put effort into getting accustomed to it and using it properly. While this can be challenging, there are ways that you can help them so that they are more likely to stick with it and continue to benefit from it.
Use these tips to help your aging parent get accustomed to their hearing aid and make the most of their assistive device during World Hearing Aid Awareness Week:
- Be aware of the strange feeling. Acknowledge to your elderly parent that their hearing aids are likely to feel strange at first. They have to get used to the feeling of actually wearing them. Let them know that their assistive devices might feel strange, but they should not hurt or be unbearably uncomfortable. If they are, they should talk to their doctor immediately.
- Start small. Your parent should not get their hearing aids and immediately try to wear them all day the first day. This is not only going to be hard on their ears as they try to get used to having the device inside of them, but it will also be challenging for their mind as it gets accustomed to the new information that it is trying to process. Instead, start with just a few hours at a time and encourage them to gradually work their way up to having it in during all waking hours.
- Start in a quiet room. The best way to get your parent accustomed to the assistive device and making the most out of the technology is to start in a quiet place. Just sitting in a quiet bedroom or living room with their hearing aid on reintroduces their brain to the input of subtle or distant sounds. Be aware that they may find these sounds extremely loud at first. Have them write down any sound that sounds too loud, too sharp, or otherwise bothersome. Before their follow-up appointment, have them go through the list again and determine if these are still bothersome. If they are not, their brain has become accustomed to them. If they are, however, they should share this with their doctor so adjustments can be made.
- Use closed captioning. Set the television to a volume that is comfortable for you with your normal hearing, and encourage your parent to watch at this volume. Put the closed captioning on so that your parent can listen and read at the same time. This helps their brain “re-learn” how to interpret sound.