Posts > Hearing in Care Homes and Nursing Homes
Hearing in Care Homes and Nursing Homes
Posted on 01/05/2009 09:57:00
Its a sad fact that there is very little hearing support for the client in the care home or nursing home environment. The NHS hearing service, although advises you it can be mobile and come to your home and look after your hearing actually cannot support this theory through to the end, as it has limited staff to provide this support, and limited income to support it.
The private dispenser can provide this service, obviously, but at a cost. However, many clients hearing loss is overlooked in these environments due to the fact that hearing loss can be misdiagnosed by the layman as senile dimentia, or depression, or the fact that the client just likes their own company.
It is vital that this group of people are supported with hearing care, providing them with hearing tests and access to a home service which takes the pressure off the clients family and off the care home to get them to the hospital. If they can be supported, it opens up many key elements to their mental health by keeping them alert, interested and involved in the home and in life in general. Being hard of hearing is very isolating, even when surrounded by other people and often leads to depression, and a lack of interest in life.
Anybody reading this blog would be welcome to offer their views, if they know of anyone in any county offering good quality support to these individuals then I would love to hear about it.