Brain health — why is it important?

Brain health can affect your ability to participate in activities of daily living and life in general as you age. Your ability to concentrate and plan can have widespread consequences on your choices and quality of life.

There is a lot of fear around a diagnosis of dementia, but people underestimate the impacts of things like ‘brain fog’ until they have experienced its effects.

Something that you can do to improve your future brain health is to review your lifestyle choices. You can reduce your risk of cognitive decline and improve your brain health by maintaining your weight in the healthy range, being physically active and getting enough sleep.

Social activities and doing things that stimulate the brain, also known as ‘cognitive activities’, may also protect against dementia, as well as making life more enjoyable!

Start your brain health journey by completing the CogDrisk online assessment. This will highlight the areas you can focus on to improve your brain health.

If brain health is identified as a health goal during a Home Medicine Review, the credentialed pharmacist may recommend or assist you to complete the CogDrisk assessment.

Some commonly used medications can affect concentration or lead to ‘brain fog’. A credentialed pharmacist can help to identify these medications and to establish if the benefits outweigh the risk of ‘cognitive burden’.

Feeling clear-headed will help you to engage in decision making around your health and improve your quality of life.