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Well from my point of view this is completely opposite to what I've witnessed firsthand. People DO know they have hearing loss and WANT to fix it. It becomes ve

Well from my point of view this is completely opposite to what I've witnessed firsthand. People DO know they have hearing loss and WANT to fix it. It becomes very awkward for them in social settings and they are not able to follow the simplest group conversation. Case in point: my dad and grandma. They both got the 'free' hearing aids (we live in Canada) and these supposedly really cost the government (or taxpayers) upwards of $2000 for each ear, and they SUCK. The alternative was to dish out $5000 per ear for a marginally better product. They both ended up not using them because it was such a hassle and it basically drove them nuts. They didn't fit very well and constantly amplified even the slightest noise, and basically did nothing in ways of helping their hearing at a normal conversation. Recently though, they finally got a great hearing aid (forgot the name) and paid less than $500 (from their wallet) and it vastly outperforms any other hearing aid they've ever tried. I know they work because because they actually WEAR them now because they are NOT ALWAYS BUZZING and amplifying ambient noise and they are ADJUSTED PERFECTLY to hold onto their ears. That's disruption for ya ....

gws 9y ago
Of course there are people that want to get help but you might be surprised to know that on average people wait for seven years before wearing a hearing aid starting from when they would benefit from one. There are customers (more than you would believe) who have hearing loss, that test the product for a month and still decide not to buy it. Also the type of hearing aid you need is highly dependent on both the hearing loss profile and the specific life situations when you don't hear well. If you have profound hearing loss and stay mostly at home and need help to watch TV or have conversations in a silent enviroment you can benefit from a basic hearing aid. If you are a bartender with a slight hearing loss and need help in noisy environemnt even a top of the line one might not make an appreciable difference. Finally free hearing aids always suck because the free service you get with them sucks and they do not take the time to see you multiple times and fix the fitting for you. It is normal to see a customer in the shop for a one-to-one with the audiologist 4-7 times in the first three months. That is expensive and difficult to disrupt because the value is the in human interaction
narag 9y ago
I guess it's different for different persons. Everybody tried to convince my stepfather for years and he didn't... listen (ahem, sorry) even if he has no problem paying for the aids. When he finally accepted to wear them, the situation has been pretty much what you describe. So I would really appreciate if you could remember or ask the name of the working ones.
randlet 9y ago
I'm a hearing aid user in Canada and your numbers seem off. Canadian government will pay $500 / ear. I have near top of the line Widex hearing aids and they were more like $2750 / ear including a 3 year service contract which included batteries for the full term. If your relatives got "free" hearing aids, it's likely they were low end (i.e. less than $500 so totally covered by the government grant). My father had a similar experience with low end devices and thankfully recently bought a much better pair and has finally successfully adapted to wearing them.
Flip-per 9y ago
Could you please look up and post the name of these?
- kelvin0 9y ago
  The model they use is the AIR from mdhearingaid.com. I am in no way affiliated to these folks. But I would like to thank them for a great product (on behalf of my family)!

gws 9y ago

Of course there are people that want to get help but you might be surprised to know that on average people wait for seven years before wearing a hearing aid starting from when they would benefit from one. There are customers (more than you would believe) who have hearing loss, that test the product for a month and still decide not to buy it. Also the type of hearing aid you need is highly dependent on both the hearing loss profile and the specific life situations when you don't hear well. If you have profound hearing loss and stay mostly at home and need help to watch TV or have conversations in a silent enviroment you can benefit from a basic hearing aid. If you are a bartender with a slight hearing loss and need help in noisy environemnt even a top of the line one might not make an appreciable difference. Finally free hearing aids always suck because the free service you get with them sucks and they do not take the time to see you multiple times and fix the fitting for you. It is normal to see a customer in the shop for a one-to-one with the audiologist 4-7 times in the first three months. That is expensive and difficult to disrupt because the value is the in human interaction

narag 9y ago

I guess it's different for different persons. Everybody tried to convince my stepfather for years and he didn't... listen (ahem, sorry) even if he has no problem paying for the aids. When he finally accepted to wear them, the situation has been pretty much what you describe. So I would really appreciate if you could remember or ask the name of the working ones.

randlet 9y ago

I'm a hearing aid user in Canada and your numbers seem off. Canadian government will pay $500 / ear. I have near top of the line Widex hearing aids and they were more like $2750 / ear including a 3 year service contract which included batteries for the full term. If your relatives got "free" hearing aids, it's likely they were low end (i.e. less than $500 so totally covered by the government grant). My father had a similar experience with low end devices and thankfully recently bought a much better pair and has finally successfully adapted to wearing them.

Flip-per 9y ago

Could you please look up and post the name of these?

kelvin0 9y ago
The model they use is the AIR from mdhearingaid.com. I am in no way affiliated to these folks. But I would like to thank them for a great product (on behalf of my family)!