Cognitive Health: Why Hearing and Daily Habits Belong Together

By Victor Davis, Health Coach, Victory Health & Wellness.

When someone tells me, “I want to keep my brain healthy,” I do not start with a memory-game subscription. I start with their day. Are conversations becoming harder to follow? Is sleep restorative? Is there room for movement, meals and time with people who matter?

Cognitive health is about using your thinking skills in real life: learning something new, following a conversation, remembering an appointment or organizing a busy afternoon. It belongs in the same whole-person conversation as your hearing, physical health and daily habits—not in a separate box labeled “brain exercises.”

What cognitive health means beyond memory

A Health overview of cognitive health introduces thinking, learning and remembering. At Victory, the useful next question is how those abilities support participation in your life. Attention helps you stay with a conversation; processing speed affects how quickly you respond; executive function helps you plan and switch between tasks.

Some changes in thinking can occur with age, but age alone is not an explanation for every change. Sleep problems, hearing difficulty, medications and other health concerns can also affect how someone functions. New, persistent or worsening difficulties—especially those interfering with everyday activities—deserve evaluation by a licensed clinician.

Why hearing health belongs in the cognitive-health conversation

Hearing helps you stay connected to people and the world around you. When listening becomes difficult, a family dinner, a group class or a phone call can require more effort. Some people begin avoiding those situations. Addressing hearing needs can make communication and participation easier, regardless of any possible cognitive benefit.

The 2024 Lancet Commission on dementia includes hearing loss among 14 potentially modifiable risk factors. Other factors include physical inactivity, social isolation, hypertension, diabetes, high LDL cholesterol and untreated vision loss. That is a reason to look broadly at health—not to assume hearing loss means someone will develop dementia.

The Commission estimates that addressing its risk factors could potentially prevent or delay approximately 45% of dementia cases worldwide. This is a population-level model based on a synthesis of evidence. It is not a promise that a person can lower their own risk by 45%, nor a measured result of Victory coaching.

What the ACHIEVE hearing study actually found

The ACHIEVE randomized trial, published in The Lancet in 2023, enrolled 977 adults aged 70–84 with untreated hearing loss and without substantial cognitive impairment. Researchers compared hearing aids plus audiological counseling with a health-education intervention over three years.

Across the full study population, the hearing intervention did not significantly change the primary cognitive outcome. A prespecified analysis suggested benefit in the higher-risk cohort drawn from an existing cardiovascular study, but not in the healthier volunteers recruited separately.

That distinction matters. The study supports continued investigation of hearing care in higher-risk older adults. It does not establish that hearing aids prevent dementia, and its findings do not apply automatically to everyone with hearing loss. Cognitive-score change was the outcome—not the number of dementia cases prevented. Hearing care still has clear everyday value for communication.

How Dr. Davis and Coach Davis connect the pieces

Dr. Jill Davis, Au.D., is a doctor of audiology at Victory Hearing & Balance, the separate sister practice of Victory Health & Wellness. The practices share a whole-person perspective, but their roles are distinct.

• Hearing and audiology needs: Dr. Davis and the Victory Hearing & Balance team provide hearing evaluation and audiology care within their professional scope.
• Everyday lifestyle habits: I work with clients through Victory Health & Wellness on goals, routines and accountability around nutrition, movement, sleep, stress and social connection.
• Clinical cognitive concerns: your physician or another appropriately qualified licensed clinician evaluates symptoms and interprets clinical findings. Audiology care and health coaching do not replace that evaluation.

For example, someone who stopped attending a walking group because conversation became frustrating may benefit from a hearing evaluation and a more workable activity routine. One practice addresses the hearing needs; the other helps with follow-through. With your authorization, relevant reports and goals can be shared to support coordination. You can learn more about the separate hearing practice and its relationship with Victory.

Lifestyle Medicine Pillars: a practical framework, not a promise

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine's healthy-brain reference guide connects brain-health education with research on habits such as exercise, sleep and engagement. It is an educational resource, not a trial proving that a coaching program prevents dementia.

At Victory, our Lifestyle Medicine Pillars help organize the conversation:

• Whole-food nutrition: build meals around foods you can enjoy consistently, including vegetables, fruit, beans and other minimally processed choices.
• Physical activity: make room for accessible movement and appropriate strength work, starting from your current ability.
• Restorative sleep: protect a consistent sleep opportunity and discuss persistent snoring or daytime sleepiness with your clinician.
• Stress management: choose manageable ways to decompress. Stress support is useful for well-being; evidence does not justify promising dementia prevention.
• Social connection: keep meaningful contact on the calendar and address barriers such as hearing difficulty.
• Coordinated Medical Health: keep your physician involved in blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, medications and cognitive concerns; include hearing and vision care when relevant.

The FINGER trial found a modest cognitive-test advantage from a two-year combined intervention involving diet, exercise, cognitive training and vascular-risk monitoring in at-risk older adults. Because these measures were combined, the study cannot tell us which single habit caused the difference. It also did not prove dementia prevention.

Nutrition deserves similar care in interpretation: a 2023 randomized MIND-diet trial found no significant cognitive difference between the study diets over three years; both groups received counseling and mild calorie-restriction support. Favor nourishing meals for overall health without treating any named diet as a guaranteed memory shield.

Where Cognivue screening fits—and where it does not

Victory offers Cognivue cognitive screening in Hutto and West Lake Hills. The brief, self-administered assessment uses a dial-style interface and produces an automated report covering cognitive domains and speed-of-performance measures.

Screening is an adjunctive tool, not a stand-alone diagnostic test. It cannot confirm or rule out dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Clinical interpretation belongs with a licensed clinician, who considers your history, symptoms and other findings. A coach can help organize lifestyle goals and questions to bring to that visit, not turn a score into a clinical conclusion.

Testing is optional. Ask what question a screening would help answer before booking it. Do not wait for a wellness appointment if symptoms need clinical attention. Sudden confusion, speech difficulty or other acute neurological changes need urgent medical assessment.

Coach Davis's coming-week plan: connect one habit with one person

1. Choose one repeatable action. A short walk, a consistent bedtime or preparing one nourishing meal may be a better start than changing everything at once.
2. Make it social when that fits. Invite a friend to walk or arrange a conversation in a quiet place where listening is comfortable.
3. Notice barriers without grading yourself. If hearing, fatigue or thinking changes are getting in the way, write down examples to discuss with the appropriate clinician.
4. Review and adjust. At week's end, keep what worked and simplify what did not. This is a habit-building experiment, not a dementia-prevention formula.

The Habit Transformation Program supports progressive routines and coach check-ins. The H.E.A.L.T.H. Program offers a broader lifestyle framework, while healthy-aging coaching helps connect goals with everyday function. Victory coaching and all eight coaching programs are available virtually nationwide through the Victory Coaching App; in-person screening and hearing care are separate services.

Your next step: bring the whole picture

You do not need to arrive with the perfect program picked out. Bring one daily-life goal and the barrier that keeps interrupting it. Book a Victory discovery call to discuss coaching and whether optional screening fits your question. For hearing concerns, contact Victory Hearing & Balance directly. For new or worsening cognitive symptoms, start with your physician.

Sources and further reading

1. Livingston G et al. Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission. The Lancet. 2024;404:572–628. PubMed: PMID 39096926.
2. Lin FR et al. Hearing intervention versus health education control to reduce cognitive decline in older adults with hearing loss in the USA (ACHIEVE). The Lancet. 2023;402:786–797. PubMed: PMID 37478886; full text.
3. Ngandu T et al. A 2 year multidomain intervention of diet, exercise, cognitive training, and vascular risk monitoring versus control to prevent cognitive decline in at-risk elderly people (FINGER). The Lancet. 2015;385:2255–2263. PubMed: PMID 25771249.
4. Barnes LL et al. Trial of the MIND Diet for Prevention of Cognitive Decline in Older Persons. New England Journal of Medicine. 2023;389:602–611. PubMed: PMID 37466280.
5. American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Living the NEURO Life: healthy-brain reference guide. Educational guidance, not evidence of Victory program outcomes.
6. Health. Cognitive health overview. Background reading; the research above is cited directly for specific findings.

This article provides educational health-coaching information, not medical advice or a guarantee of cognitive outcomes. Health coaching does not diagnose or treat dementia or other disease.