What To Look For In A Phone For The Elderly

According to the National Institutes of Health about 50% of persons over 75 have some degree of age related hearing loss.  First consider the type of phone – you can choose from corded, or uncorded.  I recommend that the elderly have at least one phone in their home that is a corded phone.   This generation grew up on just lifting up a receiver to talk, and putting it down to hang up.  Using a button to answer or hang up on a cordless phone can cause confusion – especially since many phone brands use symbols on the button to answer and hang up.   Corded phones are more practical and less confusing also because the battery doesn’t need to be charged in the handset.  If a cordless handset is NOT placed in the charger correctly – it doesn’t charge, or the user can let the battery die from not putting the handset on the charger.   The senior/elderly person picks it up and it is dead – this can be particularly confusing to an elderly person.  Also, VERY IMPORTANTLY, you can always RELY on a corded phone that is line powered – even during a power outage. Corded phones receive a small amount of electricity through the phone line, it is not dependent on the electricity in your home or office like a cordless phone.  A cordless phone can’t be charged during a power outage.  Lastly, the corded phone is more secure when giving out sensitive information like social security, medicare numbers, and personal information.

Is an amplification phone necessary?  Many elderly men and women experience hearing loss due to service in the military – especially when the ears weren’t seriously protected when they served many years ago, or they were in the fire or police department with exposure to loud sirens, causing hearing loss.   So, unless your elderly family member has a more serious hearing problem, I would recommend a corded phone that provides sufficient amplification for mild-to-moderate hearing loss.  Most have adjustable volume and tone to match their need.  Remember that age related hearing loss is usually progressive.  Most modern amplified phones do more than make the conversation louder, they actually make the words clearer, and more understandable.  Some actually help with high frequency sounds (the human voice) and help to make similar sounds such as p and b more easily distinguishable.

Make it simple.  Many elderly persons are starting to experience at least some mild memory loss or other cognitive problems.  If the phone is to be for your parent, watch how they use their current phone, especially if it is a cordless phone, loaded with bells and whistles.  If they seem to be having a problem, choose a simpler phone.  Many times they won’t come out and say I don’t understand how to use this phone – they might say I keep calling the doctor’s office and no one answers the phone, or the phone rings, I pick it up and no one is there.  You should then suspect a problem.

There are phones available with larger keypad buttons.  This is especially good for those persons with Parkinson’s or other tremor problems.  When the hand shakes, it is difficult to accurately press small buttons.  Sometimes, just having large fingers can make it difficult pressing small buttons.

If you choose a phone with Caller ID, make sure it has a large backlit LCD display -with large fonts – this makes it easier to read and less mistakes are made.  There are also phones designed with talking keypads to confirm the key they are pushing and talking caller id, making it easier for persons with low vision.

Another important fact to consider is whether an amplified phone for hearing loss is necessary if the senior/elderly person wears a hearing aid.  It is note worthy to remember that people take the hearing aid out at night when they go to bed, so if they need to make or receive an emergency phone call during the night their hearing aid will not be in.  We recommend at least an amplified phone next to the bed.  The phone should adequately light up, possibly with a visual ring indicator, so it can be seen in a dark bedroom – no one wants to be knocking their glass of water or the lamp off the nightstand when the phone is difficult to see in the dark.

There are also portable phone amplifiers that can provide phone amplification without causing high tech confusion.  These can only connect to a corded phone with the dial pad in the base -they won’t work on cellular, cordless, trimline or princess style phones.  The benefit of portable phone amplifiers is that they can be pre-set for amplification, yet are not actually part of the telephone – they plug into the telephone, allowing the senior to have a very simple, easy to use separate phone.

Some amplified phones have an amplification boost button, yet elderly persons with memory issues may not  understand how to use them.  If there are memory issues I recommend considering an amplified phone with a pre-set Boost/Override Switch or button.  These are generally found on the bottom of the phone and can be pre-set to the desired boost amplification and will stay that way, it will not go off when the receiver/handset is put down.  However, we only recommend using this pre-set Boost Override Switch/Button  if there is only one person using the phone.  If a normal hearing person answers a phone with high amplification boost pre-set to on, it could damage their hearing.

If necessary there are also specially designed S.O.S. Alert Emergency phones.  These phones can add a measure of safety and peace of mind.  The elderly person wears a pendant around their neck or a wristwatch type device when at home.  If they fall, or feel that they are having an emergency, they just press the button on the transmitter device and the phone automatically calls pre-programmed emergency contacts, 911, family members, etc.  With these phones you have emergency monitoring without the monthly fees from security companies.  So, if you have a family member that lives by themselves and you worry about them falling, or some other kind of emergency, you can have some peace of mind, and they can continue to live independently in their own home.  You would, of course, program this type of phone for an elderly person with memory loss.

Whether or not you choose to purchase a phone with an answering machine, depends on whether the elderly person with memory loss can understand how to use it, or if a basic, simple phone would be better.  Sometimes, technology has just become too advanced for some older persons – or perhaps – they just prefer simple – in that case buy the simplest phone available with amplification if needed.  You could also go the route of the extremely simple phone and attach a simple to use separate answering machine, some of which are amplified, and some have the ability to slow the speed of the message to make it more easily understood.  This way, even if the elderly person with memory issues pushes the buttons on the separate answering machine and re-sets it in some way, at least the telephone will still work.

When considering a phone with an answering machine, also think about whether or not the person gets up out of a chair slowly and walks slowly.  In order to reach the phone in time before it goes to the answering machine be sure you get a phone with the ability to set the ringer to a higher number of rings.  I find that 6 rings will allow most people to be able to answer the phone if indoors.

Updated:  Oct. 6, 2011

If you need information on telephones for hearing loss, or phones for seniors,  go to http://www.modernseniorproducts.com/Phones_for_Seniors_s/1.htm   We have a wide selection amplified phones, special answering machines and portable phone amplifiers to meet your needs.  For special answering machines & portable telephone amplifiers, go to http://www.modernseniorproducts.com/Telephone_Accessories_s/14098.htm   Not sure what kind of phone you need?  We are always happy to help – email us at customersupport@ModernSeniorProducts.com

Hearing Loss and Military Service

U.S. Military Work Around Hearing Damaging Noise

Hearing loss can be caused by many things from wax buildup which is easily fixed to over exposure to loud noise which causes nerve damage that isn’t. We don’t often put 2 + 2 together, but many people who served in the military come home with hearing loss.  The military is a loud place – tanks firing at extremely loud decibels, flight decks of carriers, jet airplanes, helicopters, rifles firing, even the pressure that older submarine sailors were exposed to could damage the ear drums and cause hearing loss.

This isn’t a problem just centered in older veterans from WWII that had minimal or no hearing protection.  Hearing Conservative Laws didn’t start until 1983.  We have Vietnam veterans and current veterans returning with hearing loss.  It can start out mild and continue to worsen over time.

Today we have improved technology such as high quality amplified telephones  that can automatically digitally adjust volume for clear conversations and clear, crisp acoustics.   We have tv assistive listening devices that can allow the wearer to listen to the tv at their own volume without disturbing or annoying others in the room.

Military personnel can’t easily wear hearing protection while in training or a firefight – they have to be able to hear orders and what is going on around them – so hearing loss from military service might not be totally preventable.

If you or someone you know is a veteran with hearing loss we suggest getting in touch with the Veterans Administration – you may qualify for hearing tests and a hearing aid.  If you are experiencing hearing loss please also check out our website at www.modernseniorproducts.com for assistive listening devices such as amplified phones and tv listening devices.

Be aware that whether it be hearing aids or amplification products – don’t over amplify.

AUTHOR:  Donna A. Menner is the Pres/CEO of Modern Senior Products LLC. Ms. Menner is the lead researcher for baby boomer and senior products, and writes the Health/Medical and Technology Blog and Newsletters at the company website, http://www.modernseniorproducts.com

Hearing Problems and Telephone Conversations

Loss of hearing can have an important effect on a person’s quality of life, whether you are a senior, returning vet with hearing loss or someone experiencing hearing problems due to police and fire sirens or medical reasons.  Just talking to the doctor on the phone can cause immense problems.  If they misunderstand the doctor’s directions it can be life threatening.  Getting the dosage of a new drug wrong, or – not hearing correctly about drug interactions are all challenging, or perhaps the senior with hearing loss will get doctor appointments wrong – showing up at the office on the wrong day or at the wrong time – making some think they are having memory loss.  The inability to hear well on the phone can also affect safety, such as mishearing driving instructions and ending up in an unsafe remote area.  If employed, hearing loss can cause age discrimination, or directly affect your job if your employer thinks you are losing your edge.

One solution is an amplified phone.  Some of these phones not only have amplification, but also help the visually and mentally impaired.  There is an amplified phone that allows you to adjust the speed of the playback recording on the answering machine – great for helping to understand those fast talkers.  There are also high quality amplified business phones that help specifically with those hard to understand words that have similar sounding letters.  An amplified phone may be a real business advantage to someone that is hearing impaired, and the new high tech business phones today look exactly like a regular business phone, so your co-workers won’t be able to tell that you are using anything different.

Modern Senior Products wants to get the information out – there is help – the newer technology is astounding and can be an important safety factor for anyone experiencing hearing loss, especially the older senior.  Sometimes we might think a senior is having memory loss when the actual problem is much simpler – they just don’t hear the directions.  The most common hearing loss is high frequency hearing loss, which includes the human voice.  There are sounds that are very similar and hard to distinguish for those with high frequency hearing loss such as the letters p and b as in the words pit and bit.  Sometimes a senior can answer you with an outlandish answer that gives you pause – making you think there might be memory loss or early Alzheimer’s setting in.  But, the solution could be simple – their high frequency hearing loss could have made them think you said a word entirely different from what you said, making their answer seem really odd.  The next time that happens consider asking some questions to see what they actually heard, then you will get a better idea if it is hearing problems or memory loss.

Hearing Loss Phone for Seniors