Hearing and Brain Centers of New England is proud to announce a strategic collaboration with PreventingDecline.com, bringing two aligned missions together under the DefeatDementia.com Movement. This partnership is not just about raising awareness, it’s about empowering people to take action and reduce their risk of developing dementia. It is about taking what we already know from decades of research and finally applying it in a way that reaches people early enough to make a difference.
As of January 2026, this collaboration will expand access to education, clinical services, and evidence-based tools designed to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. At the center of this effort is a simple but often ignored truth: preventing dementia is possible, and hearing health plays a far more important role in brain health than most people have ever been told.
By uniting clinical expertise in audiology and neuroscience with a national platform focused on healthy aging and prevention, this partnership is designed to reach millions of adults who are currently aging without a roadmap. The goal is not fear. The goal is clarity, empowerment, and early intervention.
The Dementia Crisis and the Opportunity We Are Missing
Dementia currently affects more than 55 million people worldwide, and that number is projected to triple by 2050 as populations age. For years, this trajectory was treated as unavoidable. Dementia was framed as a genetic destiny or an unfortunate consequence of living longer.
That narrative has changed in the past decade.
The most recent Lancet Commission report makes something very clear: approximately 45% of dementia cases are now considered preventable, or could be delated, by addressing modifiable risk factors across the lifespan. This is not speculation. This is consensus science.
These risk factors include things most people recognize, such as hypertension, diabetes, smoking, obesity, depression, physical inactivity, social isolation, and head injury. But one risk factor consistently rises to the top of the list, both in prevalence and impact.
That risk factor is hearing loss.
When hearing loss is identified and treated early, the reduction in dementia risk exceeds that of many other commonly discussed factors. And yet, hearing health remains one of the least screened, least treated, and least prioritized aspects of preventive brain care.
This collaboration exists because that gap is no longer acceptable.
Hearing Loss Is Not a Benign Part of Aging
One of the most damaging myths in healthcare is that hearing loss is simply an inconvenience, or worse, a cosmetic issue. In reality, hearing loss is a progressive neurodegenerative condition when left untreated.
Even mild untreated hearing loss has been associated with nearly a 200% increased dementia risk. Moderate hearing loss increases that risk threefold. Severe hearing loss increases it even further. These are not abstract statistics. They reflect what happens when the brain is deprived of sound.
Depriving the brain of sounds forces the brain to work harder to interpret incomplete information. Resources typically used for memory are diverted, and over time this increased strain on the brain contributes to fatigue, withdrawal, frustration, and measurable changes in brain structure and function.
Social isolation often follows, not because people want to disengage, but because communication becomes exhausting. Social isolation then becomes its own independent risk factor for cognitive decline, creating a vicious cycle that accelerates the very outcomes people fear most.
Treating hearing loss interrupts this cycle. It restores meaningful auditory input, reduces cognitive strain, and supports healthier brain activity. That is why hearing health sits at the center of the DefeatDementia.com Movement.
The Brain Care Score and a New Way to Measure Risk
A major pillar of this collaboration is the Brain Care Score, a personalized framework designed to help individuals understand their unique dementia risk profile and take actionable steps to improve it.
The Brain Care Score does not focus on a single factor. It looks at hearing, cognition, cardiovascular health, lifestyle, and other modifiable risks together, because that is how the brain actually functions. Importantly, it highlights hearing loss not as an afterthought, but as a primary driver of risk that is both common and treatable.
By quantifying risk and progress, the Brain Care Score turns an abstract concept into something measurable and motivating. It gives individuals a clear starting point and a way to track improvement over time, rather than waiting passively for decline to appear.
Hearing and Brain Centers of New England: Clinical Care With a Brain-First Lens
Hearing and Brain Centers of New England was founded by Dr. Keith N. Darrow, a neuroscientist and clinical audiologist trained at Harvard Medical School and M.I.T. The organization was built on a simple premise: hearing loss is not an ear problem. It is a brain problem with auditory consequences.
Across its locations nationwide, Hearing and Brain Centers has treated more than 162,000 patients using a medical, neuroscience-driven approach to hearing loss and tinnitus. This approach goes far beyond amplification. It integrates advanced diagnostic testing, prescription neurotechnology, cognitive screening, and ongoing verification of outcomes.
The goal is never to sell a device. The goal is to reduce the impact of your brain, restore sound input, and protect long-term brain health. This philosophy aligns directly with the DefeatDementia.com Movement and the growing body of evidence linking hearing treatment to improved cognitive outcomes.
PreventingDecline.com and the Power of Prevention Beyond the Clinic
PreventingDecline.com complements this clinical work by extending prevention into daily life. The platform focuses on education, lifestyle strategies, and targeted tools designed to support healthy aging.
Through educational content, wellness services, and carefully selected supplements, PreventingDecline.com helps individuals reinforce what is happening in the clinic with what happens at home. This includes tools that support auditory health and tinnitus management, such as SilentEar, which aligns with evidence-based secondary strategies for supporting hearing-related conditions.
The collaboration between PreventingDecline.com and Hearing and Brain Centers creates a seamless continuum of care, from clinical evaluation to long-term prevention, all under a unified philosophy of proactive brain health.
The DefeatDementia.com Movement: From Awareness to Action
The DefeatDementia.com Movement exists to change how society thinks about cognitive decline. It is not about fear-based messaging or distant promises of future cures. It is about empowering people with what they can do now.
Through this partnership, the movement will expand nationwide access to free screenings, educational webinars, community events, and digital tools that make prevention tangible. Social media campaigns and public education efforts will focus on one clear message: dementia risk can be reduced, and hearing health is a critical place to start.
Free Annual Screenings That Can Change the Trajectory
A cornerstone of this collaboration is the strong recommendation that adults, especially those over 50, schedule their Free Annual Hearing Evaluation, Cognitive Screening, and Brain Care Score assessment at a local Hearing and Brain Centers location.
These evaluations are non-invasive, accessible, and designed to identify early changes that often go unnoticed. The hearing evaluation looks beyond basic thresholds to understand clarity, processing, and real-world listening challenges. The cognitive screening assesses key domains of brain function that are known to be affected by auditory deprivation. The Brain Care Score then brings these findings together into a clear, actionable plan.
Making these services free and routine removes one of the biggest barriers to prevention: waiting until something feels wrong.
Why Treating Hearing Loss Changes Everything
Dr. Darrow’s work, including his book Preventing Decline, consistently demonstrates that treating hearing loss produces measurable benefits that extend far beyond better hearing. Patients report improved quality of life, sharper thinking, reduced tinnitus distress, better balance, and greater confidence in daily activities.
These benefits are not coincidental. They reflect the restoration of healthy auditory input and the brain’s remarkable capacity for adaptation when given the right conditions. Treating hearing loss is not about adding volume. It is about reducing cognitive load and supporting neural health.
When hearing loss is addressed early, the brain is given a chance to stay engaged, flexible, and resilient.
A Call to Act While Prevention Is Still Possible
This collaboration represents a decisive step toward changing the future of cognitive aging. It recognizes that waiting for dementia to appear is no longer an acceptable strategy when so much can be done earlier.
Healthcare professionals are encouraged to refer patients for screening and education. Individuals and families are encouraged to act before decline becomes visible. Prevention is not passive. It requires engagement, awareness, and the willingness to treat hearing health as brain health.
Scheduling a free evaluation is a simple first step, but its impact can be profound.
Redefining What It Means to Age Well
The collaboration between Hearing and Brain Centers of New England and PreventingDecline.com under the DefeatDementia.com Movement is about redefining aging itself. It is about shifting the narrative from inevitability to opportunity.
Preventing decline is not just about adding years to your life, it’s about adding life to years. It is about preserving independence, clarity, connection, and dignity.
Dementia is not an all-or-nothing event. It is a process. And processes can be interrupted.
This partnership exists to make sure people know that, and more importantly, to help them act on it while it still matters.
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