Mom constantly losing hearing aid and glasses in memory care, at what point do you stop replacing them?

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Mom constantly losing hearing aid and glasses in memory care, at what point do you stop replacing them?

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Mom has been in an AL for three weeks and the first weekend she lost her glasses which she wears constantly. They were found. They r wire frames so hard to write her name on. They so have a decoration at the corners so daughter recommended I take a picture of them for easy identification.

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Putthatknifeawayis so right.

Less than a year ago, we bought my mom new glasses for $600.00. the next day, when I asked where they were, she told me that she doesn't wear glasses.

That's it. No more glasses. And no more newspaper subscription, which is very expensive. The subscription ran out and I thought I would wait to see if she mentions it. No mention so far.

So, we just keep playing cards. It is nice. short, sweet visits.

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Get her a few inexpensive pairs and keep a pair. Put her name on them, or mark of some sort to identify, in a way it can't be removed. Take a picture of them , and when they show up missing show it to the staff. Really not much you can do in this situation, it can be frustrating.

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We had the same problem. I eventually gave up on the hearing aids, because Dad just refused to wear them. But the glasses, he needed. He lost them almost daily. It turned out to be one of the other residents who would wander into Dad's room and take his stuff. And the glasses would be right out in the open on his bedside table while he slept. She'd wander away with it and leave it everywhere. (Dad was not mobile enough to be the one moving this stuff.) Unfortunately all the residents had dementia, and the other residents would just pick up the glasses and put them on. They were to confused to know they weren't seeing right with them, and no one could say, just by looking at them, that those weren't the right glasses. (All the men's glasses look the same) Found those glasses in the hall, in dining room on the sofa in lounge. And in the nurses station where they had a box of at least 20 pair of lost and never claimed glasses. What was annoying was seeing another resident wearing a pair that Iwas fairly sure were Dad's, but nothing could be done to get them back. (I even offered to take them to the optician to have them determine if the perscription matched. ) Replaced those glasses twice in eight months time. $$$! The second time, I took nail polish and painted the end of one stem bright green and the other bright pink. That way whenever I saw them on another resident I could easily identify them and get them back. (puting tape or label on the stem didn't work, would just come off. )

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As we all know, hearing aids and glasses are very expensive. Depending on your income will depend on how often you can replace these items, but really you should never have to replace them out of your own pocket, this isn't even and expense you should be worrying about.

If she's in memory care, how do you know these items aren't really being stolen by another resident? You don't. I know you can't be there all the time, so you can't know every little thing that goes on when you're not there. Anytime someone's in memory care, you'll be faced with other residents with memory issues, and one of those problems your face is other residents wandering in and out of other peoples rooms and even picking up stuff they mistake as their's. I'm surprised the memory care staff aren't putting up some kind of barricade across the doors of residence having stuff coming up missing. I have noticed this in facilities, and this is supposed to actually help stop wandering residents from entering other peoples rooms. If a specific resident has a habit of entering a specific room, staff are supposed to put up a special barricade to stop the behavior. It sounds to me like something needs done where the memory care staff are involved. If this is a fault of an oversight of the memory care staff, they are responsible for the lost items since they keep people in their care. Next time you must replace lost glasses or hearing aids, I would just bill the memory care facility for it. Meanwhile, you should contact the "head department of nursing" for that nursing home and explain what's going on. Explain that next time you must replace lost glasses or hearing aids, the facility will be billed for it and you won't be paying for it. This will get the head department of nursing moving toward getting to the bottom of why the glasses and hearing aids keep coming up missing.

If the facility won't take responsibility to resolve the problem, I personally would contact APS and keep reporting the problem until they act. I would also contact the patient's doctor and alert that doctor as well as the providers for the glasses and hearing aids. One other resource that would be a very good idea to contact if all else fails is an elder care attorney who can help guide you through this type of issue

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With my grandparents in rest homes, we found that things were taken by the help. It is very cruel to blame the patient when there are a lot of help in those rest homes that "steal from the patients". We always took the precious possessions home because they will all be gone if you don't make arrangements to replace them with cheaper items/

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We had this problem with my husband and his eyeglasses.The trick is to know or observe if the person misses the hearing aids or the glasses. Once they don't look for them and don't know they are missing, we can stop providing them. Give them to the staff in case the person asks for them or seems to be looking for them or questioning something for which they need the aids to understand something they want to know.
Otherwise, it is the person's way to decrease the stimulation they receive that they no longer comprehend anyway.We need to understand that it is not about us, not about what someone else may say about our not providing glasses or hearing aids. it is about the memory care resident,who often just wants to be left alone.

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I've been doing a fair amount of reading on this subject, there are some good threads here on AgingCare. I personally feel that impaired hearing and vision exacerbate dementia, visual and aural cues help to keep them oriented. I also understand that these items are not cheap and you can't continue to keep replacing them.
Do you have any idea how or when they go missing? HAs are small enough to get mixed in the laundry or garbage if she puts them in a pocket or wraps them in a tissue, but the glasses should be more difficult to lose. Small children who have HAs can have them tethered to a lanyard, it is beyond me why hearing specialists don't advise that for those with dementia. I have also read that some nursing homes will keep such items on the med cart overnight and hand them out in the morning, which would be helpful if they get lost in her room after she removes them. As for the glasses, mark them clearly with her name, perhaps pick a unique, fun frame so they are easily recognized and she is less apt to give them away, and try a lanyard for them as well.

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Mom constantly losing hearing aid and glasses in memory care, at what point do you stop replacing them?

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