A few years ago I got a letter from a hearing aid outfit (audiologists) telling me I was eligible for a free hearing test, and free hearing aids if required. I had noticed my hearing had deteriorated so I went along.
The upshot was I decided to get some aids. On the basis of vanity I got the ones that wrap over the ear. They sort of worked in that they made things louder, but also tinny, but they kept falling off. I've always had small ears - they've even been described as cute/sweet etc.
At the first annual checkup I told the audiologist about the falling off problem, the result was that I got them replaced by the devices that go into the ear. That solved the falling off problem, but they still seemed tinny so I only wore them when I 'needed' them.
I few weeks ago I went for retest/review. Same place, but I saw a different audiologist. She made some adjustments, chastised me for not wearing them most of the time etc etc. She reduced the tinny sound considerably. And she enabled the T-loop feature which should make going to the movies less of a 'problem'.
Hearing aids have tiny buttons on them to change programs to suit different environments - which I've always found hard to use so I asked what could be done about that. She pulled out a little remote control - its not free - cost me $165.
It has made an enormous difference - I can change programs between Normal, Restaurant, T-loop (cinemas have this, its a magnetic loop), adjust volume, mute, change left/right volumes etc.
I haven't been to the cinema yet, need to ask my movie-mate what's on, and when she can go.
Apparently providing free hearing aides reduces the need for aged-care and disability services etc. Why they don't do it for dental care I don't know. We just lost the opportunity to get that by voting in the 'banana-with-raspberry-coulis' party, instead of the 'strawberry-with-a-cherry-on-top' party.
BR