New research from Curtin University has found that Australia's approach to dementia prevention is dangerously narrow, overlooking critical social and environmental factors in favour of individual lifestyle advice. The peer-reviewed study, published in the Lancet, warns that as dementia cases are projected to surpass one million Australians by 2065, the country cannot afford to keep treating prevention as a personal responsibility alone.
Beyond the Usual Advice: 61 Risk Factors Identified
Most dementia prevention messaging centres on familiar recommendations — regular exercise, a balanced diet and managing blood pressure. But the Curtin University study, led by epidemiologist Dr Jennifer Dunne, takes a far broader view. Building on an earlier large-scale systematic review and meta-analysis by co-author Professor Blossom Stephan — Curtin's enAble Institute Dementia chair — the research identified 61 distinct risk factors for dementia, a significant expansion on the 14 previously recognised by the wider scientific community.
The study is the first of its kind to map these risk factors using a socioecological model, categorising them across individual, social and environmental dimensions. What it uncovered was a striking lack of research and policy attention on how social and environmental conditions shape brain health over a lifetime.
Among the 61 risk factors are uncorrected vision or hearing loss, social isolation, physical inactivity, depression and access to quality early childhood education — factors that extend well beyond what any individual can control through personal choices alone.
The Problem With Telling People to 'Just Do More'
"There's so much focus on preventing dementia, but we need to think more broadly about how we work together to prevent it," Dr Dunne said. She argued that individual lifestyle interventions can only succeed when the surrounding environment supports them.
"We need to move away from the message of telling people you need to do all these things, because they can only be successful if the environment around them is supportive," she said.
One striking example the research highlights is the role of early childhood education. By the time most people start thinking seriously about dementia prevention — typically in mid-life — certain foundational risk factors are already locked in. "You can't go back and do your childhood education again," Dr Dunne explained. "We need to ensure that the broader society in which we live supports high-quality education that is accessible to everybody."
The research also draws attention to the interconnected nature of many risk factors. Social isolation, for instance, tends to escalate among employed adults as they approach retirement — and it rarely arrives alone. "We know that when people sometimes become socially isolated, they become depressed. Then they tend to withdraw and stop exercising. They might start smoking, or start smoking more, which leads to a cascade of health conditions. It's all interlinked," Dr Dunne said.
Who Is Most at Risk in Australia Today?
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 439,000 Australians were living with dementia in 2025. Of those, 56 per cent are women. The risk rises sharply with age — more than 42 per cent of Australians aged 90 and over are living with the condition.
Dementia is an umbrella term covering more than 100 conditions, the most common being Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Alzheimer's alone accounts for up to 80 per cent of all dementia cases, progressively affecting memory, thinking and behaviour through the damage or death of the brain's neurons.
Turning Research Into Action
Professor Stephan stressed that the findings must now drive real-world change. "Dementia prevention should support healthy choices while also improving education, neighbourhoods, healthcare access and other social conditions that shape brain health across the population throughout a person's life," she said.
Dr Dunne described the study as a roadmap identifying where researchers and policymakers should be directing their attention — not just confirming what is already known, but highlighting the significant gaps that remain. With Australia's dementia burden set to more than double in the coming decades, advocates say the window for meaningful, population-level action is narrowing fast.
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