Q. My father was recently diagnosed with hearing loss. I live a distance from him, so our primary means of communication is the phone. He also loves to keep up with friends and family and particularly enjoys talking with his grandchildren. He is becoming very frustrated with how difficult it is for him to hear over the phone in particular. I worry that he will lose touch with his network of family and friends and become more isolated if he is unable to connect by phone.
A. I am sorry to hear about your father’s recent diagnosis. A new diagnosis can cause anxiety and raise questions, but your father is not alone. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, about 15% of American adults (37.5 million) ages 18 and older report some trouble with hearing. And the National Council on Aging reports that 40% of adults seventy-five and older experience hearing loss.
Fortunately, we live in the age of technology and there are great resources available at no cost. An example of this is CaptionCall, a free service that provides captioned phones and service to people with hearing loss who need captioned telephone service. This could be a great option for your father.
CaptionCall is available in two forms: CaptionCall phone or CaptionCall Mobile. With CaptionCall phone, you receive a free phone with CaptionCall service. It works like a regular phone but has a large touchscreen that displays captions. CaptionCall Mobile is a free app for your iPhone or Android smartphone that provides real-time call captioning for cell phones. It uses automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology and works anywhere with mobile data service. And both the phone and mobile app support English and Spanish call captioning.
In terms of eligibility, anyone who has hearing loss and needs captioned telephone service to communicate qualifies. This includes people who are deaf, deafblind, or hard of hearing. A landline phone service and high-speed internet, or a smartphone with data service are required.
To qualify, you can complete a self-certification process and registration or submit a referral from a provider to www.captioncall.com or call for more information: 877-557-2227. Again, the service is free! The federal government pays for CaptionCall. The service is part of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) program. The funding comes from fees that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) collects from telecommunications providers.
Are you caring for an older adult or need help finding healthy aging resources? Our experienced staff is available to help. Visit us online at www.agespan.org. You can also call 800-892-0890 or email info@agespan.org.
Joan Hatem-Roy is the chief executive officer of AgeSpan, which serves the following cities and towns: Amesbury, Andover, Billerica, Boxford, Chelmsford, Danvers, Dracut, Dunstable, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Marblehead, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleton, Newbury, Newburyport, North Andover, Peabody, Rowley, Salisbury, Salem, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, Westford, and West Newbury.
First published in the Eagle-Tribune.
