Abstract
<jats:p>Dementia is a major global public health challenge characterised by heterogeneous neurocognitive disorders and a growing evidence base for prevention through modifiable risk factors. Public understanding of dementia, however, remains limited, with persistent misconceptions regarding its inevitability, causes, and prevention potential. This conceptual review synthesises evidence on public dementia literacy, focusing on understanding of dementia subtypes and awareness of modifiable risk factors. The available evidence suggests that dementia is widely misperceived as a normal part of ageing, and that awareness of cardiovascular, metabolic, psychosocial, and environmental risk factors remains uneven across populations. Despite epidemiological evidence indicating that approximately 45% of dementia risk, distributed across fourteen established risk factors, is potentially modifiable, public mental models often fail to reflect this preventability. The review highlights a persistent gap between biomedical evidence and public interpretation, shaped by health literacy limitations, fragmented risk conceptualisation, and behavioural constraints. Strengthening dementia prevention communication requires moving beyond awareness-based campaigns toward structurally informed health literacy approaches that integrate interpretation, applicability, and behavioural translation.</jats:p>