91 Year old - Would headphones work as a hearing aid

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dewsbury

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My father is 91 and cannot really hear his grandchildren who are unable to talk loud enough for him.

He tried the normal small hearing aids and these have never worked for him. His eyesight and dexterity are poor and this does not help and he needs something bigger,

He does however watch a lot of TV and uses a pair of cordless headphones to hear it. This works very well.

QUESTION:
Would it be possible to buy a "special" pair of headphones that were designed to amplify the human voice?? Essentially, I am hoping that my father could use a set of headphones in preference to the normal "smaller" traditional hearing aids.

In case of doubt. Something like this;
https://www.google.ie/search?q=head...2Fcyber-monday-apple-deals-1356635%2F;326;326
 
deafdyke said:
Has he tried the BTEs or maybe even a body worn HA?
Click to expand...

He eyesight and dexterity is poor , he may not be able to see which way to put the battery in correctly . This very common with older people , I had a few clients when I was health aide that had families members buy them a HA ,some had the ITE and that a waste of $$$ b/c the HA ended up in a drawer . Another problem was getting a lot of feedback b/c my client did not put the earmolds in right or they a lot of weight and it no longer fixed right . Ear aids company made a lot of money selling the wrong kind of HA to elderly people they were told their HA was good for any kind of hearing lost.
 
the problem is that headphones would amplify all sounds equally. Hearing Aids amplify specifically to match the lost frequencies. Try going to Costco if you have membership there as their audiologists are not on commission to sell you the most expensive hearing aid.
also with headphones because you are amplifying all sound then other noises he can hear well will block out the voices that he can't hear now because the background noise etc will be louder too.
Modern hearing aids also have all kinds of noise reduction and listening environment strategies .
 
soutthpaw said:
the problem is that headphones would amplify all sounds equally. Hearing Aids amplify specifically to match the lost frequencies. Try going to Costco if you have membership there as their audiologists are not on commission to sell you the most expensive hearing aid.
also with headphones because you are amplifying all sound then other noises he can hear well will block out the voices that he can't hear now because the background noise etc will be louder too.
Modern hearing aids also have all kinds of noise reduction and listening environment strategies .
Click to expand...

Yep.I bought one of this "As Seen On TV" hearing aids when I had to seen mine in for repairs: no use to me at all.

Your Dad can hear the TV because they optimize the broadcasts to make dialogue clear. In the real world, this doesn't happen.
 
I am the OP.
Thanks for contributions.
I guess there is no magic solution!
 
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