A “slip, slap, slop” preventative campaign is needed for dementia, as new research shows cases of the disease could be delayed with no added cost, a leading doctor has told the National Press Club on Wednesday.
In the speech titled “Hope Beckons”, Prof Henry Brodaty, a co-director of the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) at the University of New South Wales, said there was much more Australia could be doing to help prevent dementia in its ageing population by addressing risk factors that can be managed, such as poor diet.
Australia has a “very proud record of prevention” when it comes to health, such as the “slip slap slap” and “life be in it” campaigns, as well as smoking reduction and heart health awareness, Brodaty said.
“We need the slip, slop, slap of brain health now,” Brodaty told the press club.
The National Dementia Action Plan 2023–2034 was released, but $166m in funding is too little for what Australia needs, he said. A study on which Brodaty was senior author, published on Wednesday in the Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease, found that CHeBA’s internet-based dementia prevention program tailored to an individual’s risk profile shows cost-effectiveness for improving cognition and reducing dementia risk.
Between 2018 and 2021, the trial followed 6,104 Australians aged 55 to 77 without dementia but who carried at least two modifiable dementia risk factors such as being overweight or suffering from anxiety. CHeBA’s “Maintain Your Brain” online had coaching modules for four of these factors: physical activity, nutrition, cognitive training, and depression or anxiety.
After three years, the researchers analysed the differences in costs for both the direct healthcare that participants received and the program costs, and the effectiveness (cognitive outcomes and dementia risk) between the two groups.
They found the participants who received the online coaching showed significant improvements in cognitive performance and greater reductions in dementia risk compared with those who received general health information alone.
The difference was highly significant, which would have a “major effect” at a population level, delaying the onset of dementia, Brodaty said. “Every year that we can delay the onset of dementia reduces the prevalence of dementia by 10% because it pushes the disease to later in life.”
The researchers also acknowledged limitations within the study: the participants were primarily Caucasian, better educated than average and had a higher socioeconomic status than the general population. They also noted risk-reduction practices may reap greater benefits in higher-risk populations.
Prof Scott Ayton, a director in dementia research at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, who was not involved in the research, said “evidence accumulated over the past decade indicates that lifestyle and risk factor-targeted prevention strategies can meaningfully lessen dementia risk”.
“The large Maintain Your Brain trial stands as a leading exemplar, showing that straightforward, cost-effective, risk-factor targeted interventions can delay onset or reduce overall risk without adding pressure to the health budget,” Ayton said.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jul/23/dementia-prevention-campaign-slip-slop-slap-for-brain-health
