Okaaaay. That says something. Do you know if your relatives also had some hearing issues? And YES, you are spot-on with the connection between dementia (to say nothing of anti-social behavior, too) and hearing loss.
Granted, I WIN the prize here with my audiogram, but I was born with much better (never normal) hearing. I got my first pair at 35 and took to them like a duck to water.
The earlier you get used to hearing aids, the better you’ll adapt AND be proactive about your own condition. Hearing rarely if ever improves with age, so you already know, you’re slipping down the slope on the critical high frequencies that help with your speech comprehension. EMBRACE the solution! You don’t have to go to Costco, but if that’s a cost-effective option, DO IT. You tell them what you want. They can not deny you hearing aids … unless they feel untrained to fit yours properly?
Aids - and even OTC devices! - have come SO FAR from even 10-15 yrs ago. The #1 rated hearing device for speech (as per the post here) is a pair of OTC Sony CRE-E10s! You can buy them and see what you think.
Speech banana link is here. I’ve taken that to my audi … but she already knew about it. 