Top 5 Tips For The Hard Of Hearing In Aged Care.

There are so many questions for those who are heading into an Aged Care facility. What will it be like, how will the new resident cope in unfamiliar surroundings and how will they settle in?

This blog is a broad guide taking into account those residents who are hard of hearing.

What Hearing Facilities Are Available To Me? 

A great question to ask Aged Care facilities, when looking is, 'what measures they have taken to assist those who are hard of hearing?' 

For example, the aged care facility might have invested in 'inductive hearing loop' technology. This type of technology enables those who wear Telecoil enabled hearing aids to hear important announcements or the TV more clearly without the mix of nuisance ambient noises. 

What About Communication?

As residents spend a lot of time in their rooms, communication is key, especially to the outside world. One of the biggest issues we have heard from residents is their internal phones.

Residents pay a lot in monthly phone line rental fee's and a lump sum when they move rooms. 

So what if there was a solution that would enable residents to still maintain communication to the outside world without the added monthly line rentals fee's and moving room expenses?

Well there is. Hear for Less offers two popular solutions that sidestep both of those issues.

1. Olitech EasyTel Phone For Seniors. Looks and feels like a standard home phone, requires AC mains wall socket to keep charged, however, runs on a SIM card. Effectively it's a 'mobile phone' that looks like a 'home phone'

The resident will have a mobile phone number, just like any other normal mobile phone.

2. Olitech EasyFlip 4G Unlocked Mobile Phone For Seniors. This Mobile Phone is a cut above the rest. With MyEasyAssist and the latest 2.0 updated software, this revolutionary free option allows the EasyFlip to be remotely programmed, located and backed up via the custom-designed web platform. This not only assists in the set up of the phone but ongoing programming (eg reminders) and troubleshooting. Perfect if the user is in a rest home or far away.

Also check out our nbn phone range.

What Mobile Phone Carrier Is Best?

Depends on the location and complex. We always suggest contacting the Aged Care facility to ask them about their mobile phone service in all common areas but most importantly in the room that the resident will be taking up. 

Most of our customers go for a 'pay-as-you-do' solution. There are lots of good deals out there which don't require monthly top-ups. 

You can read more about our choice of seniors mobile phones.

What If I Don't Want Hearing Aids?

We get asked this question a lot. Generally by those who may be hard of hearing but leaning more towards the stubborn side of 'i just don't like them' 'i don't want to wear them' 

Hearing aids are an investment but they won't do anyone any good just sitting on the dresser. 

Luckily, Hear for Less has solutions available in this area.

The Bellman Personal Amplifiers are popular solutions that allow residents the ability to use headphones, earphones or stetoclip to hear conversations better. At a fraction of the price for hearing aids, these solutions work really well.

Bellman, a Swedish based company, specialises in wireless home technology for the hard of hearing / deaf community.

Which leads us nicely on to the next topic

I Need To Have The TV Volume Louder

Blaring TV in the resident's room? This is a common issue!

There is a fine balancing act within any Aged Care facility. Residents want the TV louder but this means disturbing other residents who might be reading, relaxing or trying to sleep, not to mention the Aged Care facility staff going about their duties. 

Once again, there are solutions that will ensure the resident can hear the TV at a volume that best suits them, without the noise pollution of a blaring TV. 

At Hear for Less we have a range of wireless solutions for both residents who wear hearing aids and those who do not.

These solutions are called TV Listeners by German brand Humantechnik and also we have a solution called the Bellman & Symfrom Audio Maxi Pro Bundle

Both of these solutions allow the resident to control the volume of the TV at their finger tips.

The Bellman & Symfrom Audio Maxi Pro Bundle and some of the TV Listeners also double as solutions which can help the resident to hear conversations more clearly too. 

Those solutions are:

Bellman & Symfrom Audio Maxi Pro Bundle 

Humantechnik Tiviton DAB - Three in one: TV, Radio and Voice listeners

Humantechnik Sonumaxx BT - Two in one: TV and Voice listeners

What About Hearing Aid Hygiene?

This is a great question. For those who wear hearing aids, it's important to maintain a great level of hygiene for the ears for the following two main reasons.

1. Ear infections, not cleaning hearing aids can result to nasty ear infections which can be painful for days.

2. Prolong the investment. Regardless of the make / model of the hearing aid(s) regular cleaning is a great way to ensure hearing aids last the distance.

At Hear for Less we stock a wide variety of hearing aid cleaning solutions ranging from manual through to automatic. Click here to find out more

For Aged Care facilities, our most popular solution are the Electrical Hearing Aid Drying Solutions range. They are simple plug and play and a great place to store the hearing aids when not in use.