When my late mother was director of health care at a retirement community, she told us hearing aids were the largest waste of money with the elderly. Insurance companies paid a thousand bucks each for aids that were worn seldom, if at all, because of vanity (both sexes), poor understanding of how they worked, or “I forgot.” She estimated less than a third of her people were still wearing them after a few months.

My father wore his because my mother, um, “helped” him with them. 😉 After her dementia set in, he stopped.