The Munka-Kör Foundation for the Hearing Impaired often finds that its customers choose the cheaper, social insurance subsidized hearing aids because they cannot afford the more expensive ones. As a result, they cannot access the latest technologies, so their labor market situation will be much worse in deed. Additional technical devices that help communication, such as radio transferring devices, headphones or light indicators are not supported at all, therefore, they are inherently inaccessible to the hearing-impaired living in a lower social class. That is why the Munka-Kör Foundation deals with the free rental of baby cry detectors for the hearing impaired that can be used by deaf parents.
Our customers and their colleagues who work for us use many aids in their everyday life; the vast majority of them wear hearing aids because of their hearing problems. We have expressed our concern on several occasions that the availability of non-subsidized devices with modern technology is almost impossible for those concerned due to their financial and labor market condition.
In addition to the financial burden of purchasing the aids, it is also necessary to take care of the sustenance and maintenance costs that occur during everyday use. These devices either use replaceable or rechargeable batteries, which are more expensive and more difficult to collect than average batteries due to their specific characteristics. The servicing and repair of the devices, which ensures their continuous good performance, also appears as a serious expense in the monthly budget of the hearing-impaired. We also have colleagues who can only join us remotely due to their condition, they use assistive devices in their homes.
