Elder financial exploitation gov conf presentation

1. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Promoting Financial Security by
Preventing Elder Financial
Exploitation
Pamela B. Teaster, Ph.D.
Professor and Associate Director
Karen A. Roberto, Ph.D.
University Distinguished Professor and Director
Center for Gerontology
Virginia Tech
The Governor’s Conference on Aging
Tools & Strategies to Prevent Financial Exploitation
Richmond, Virginia, May 2, 2016

2. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Prologue
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3. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Agenda
3
▪ Understand the scope of elder financial
exploitation
▪ Recognize strategies for preventing elder
financial exploitation
▪ Identify the roles of organizations and
entities involved in addressing elder
financial exploitation in Virginia and
nationally

4. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
A Warning--
It Can Happen to Anyone…
To those seniors and especially elderly veterans like myself, I
want to tell you this: You are not alone and you have nothing to
be ashamed of. If elder abuse happened to me, it can happen to
anyone.
Mickey Rooney
Testimony to Senate Special Committee on Aging
March 2, 2011

5. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
What is Elder Abuse?
Elder abuse refers to intentional or neglectful
acts by a caregiver or “trusted” individual that
lead to, or may lead to, harm of a vulnerable
elder (National Center on Elder Abuse [NCEA],
2009).
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6. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
How Much Elder Abuse Exists?
One year incidence rate:
▪ emotional abuse = 4.6%
▪ physical abuse=1.6%
▪ sexual abuse = 0.6%
▪ potential neglect = 5.1%
▪ financial abuse = 5.2%
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Acierno et al., 2010

7. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
What is Elder Financial Abuse?
When a person who stands in any
position of trust to an elder or
dependent adult takes or appropriates
that person’s money or property to any
wrongful use or with the intent to
defraud
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8. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Prevalence of Financial Abuse
▪ 3rd most commonly substantiated type of
elder abuse
▪ Accounts for 30-50% of all abuse and 2.9
billion (MetLife Mature Market Institute, 2011)
▪ For every known case of elder financial
abuse, it is estimated that 4, to 5 cases
go unreported
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9. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Something More:
Financial Abuse as a Catalyst for
Other Types of Abuse
▪ FAB involved deceit, threats,
and emotional manipulation of
the elder in almost all cases
▪ Physical abuse and neglect
and sexual violence frequently
occurred in tandem with
financial crimes
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10. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Who Are the Likely Victims?
▪ More women than men, but the numbers
vary by type of abuse
▪ Older adults who are isolated
▪ Older adults who are lonely
▪ Older adults who are unfamiliar with
financial matters
▪ Older adults with cognitive impairment
▪ Some connections to SES, place but
relatively unexplored as yet
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11. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Why Do People Abuse Elders?
▪ Perpetrator-victim dependency
▪ Perpetrator deviance
▪ Victim vulnerability
▪ Caregiver stress
▪ Social isolation
▪ Ageism
▪ Inadequate resources
▪ Lack of knowledge of the problem
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12. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Prevention
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13. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Primary Prevention: Prevents
Financial Elder Abuse from
Occurring at All by Preventing
Exposure to Risk Factors
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14. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Why are Older Adults Targets of
Financial Abuse?
▪ Accumulated wealth
▪ Often home alone
▪ Socially isolated
▪ Need for assistance
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15. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Risk Factors
▪ Gender – females
victimized nearly 2:1
▪ Age – most vulnerable
at 80-89 years
▪ Living alone – with
observable vulnerability
▪ Personality – tenuous,
values independence
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16. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Additional Risk Factor:
Cognitive Impairment
▪ Normal aging includes cognitive
decline in several domains
▪ Dementia prevalence climbs
rapidly after age 60, doubling
with every 5 years of age
▪ Roughly 50% of the population
80+ has some form of medically
diagnosed cognitive impairment
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17. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
reasoning
planning
speech
movement
emotions
problem-
solving
vision perception of
touch pressure
temperature
pain
perception and
recognition of
auditory stimuli,
memory
Brain Functions by Region
*Executive Function*
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18. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
What is Financial Capacity (FC)?
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19. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Decline of Financial Capacity
▪ Decline of financial capacity
usually occurs very early in
the course of cognitive
impairment
▪ Both older adults and family
members may be largely
unaware of encroaching
deficits in financial skills
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20. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Financial Abuse: Warning Signs
▪ Fear or submissiveness to caregiver; any sign of
intimidation by another
▪ Isolation from relationships
▪ New “best friend” or “sweetheart”
▪ Withdrawn behavior or disheveled appearance
▪ Missed appointments, uncharacteristic nonpayment
for services
▪ Unusual bank activity or withdrawals that cannot be
explained
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21. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Warning Signs (continued)
▪ Anxiety about personal finances
▪ Lack of knowledge about financial status
▪ Missing belongings or property
▪ Significant changes in spending patterns
▪ Sudden changes in financial management,
legal documents
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22. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Prevention Strategies for Older
Adults and Families
▪ Stay organized
▪ Stay informed
▪ Stay alert
▪ Never be pressured
into making an immediate decision
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23. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Secondary Prevention: Seeks to
Minimize the Severity of the
Exploitation Once it Has
Occurred
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Don't see how the Metlife slides
address secondary prevention, but like
the focus of the 3 slides I kept - if keep
will need some connection points

24. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
The MetLife Study of Elder FAB:
Crimes of Occasion, Desperation, and
Predation Against America’s Elders
Follow -Up Study: 2011
▪ Expanded analysis of scholarly
research
▪ Reviewed articles from Spring and
Holidays 2010
▪ Interviewed select victims
identified in 1st study
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25. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Crimes of Occasion
Crimes of opportunity or incidents of financial
abuse or exploitation that occur because
the victim is in the way of what the
perpetrator wants.
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26. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Crimes of Desperation
Crimes of desperation are those in which
family members or friends may become so
desperate for money that they do whatever
it takes to get it.
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27. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Crimes of Predation
Crimes of predation or occupation occur
when trust is engendered specifically for
the intention of financial abuse later.
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28. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
The Case of Laura:
An Example of Secondary Prevention

29. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
How Do We Minimize the Severity of
Financial Abuse?
▪ Involve the medical community
▪ Involve Adult Protective Services &
Other Social Services
▪ Involve LTC Ombudsman
▪ Involve Law Enforcement
▪ Involves Faith Communities
▪ Involve Banks
▪ Involve MDTs
▪ Involve Friends & Family
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30. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Tertiary Prevention: Seeks to Minimize
Damage and Disability Due to the
Exploitation by Providing Medical Care
and Rehabilitation Services
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31. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Involvement of the
The Medical Community
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32. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Involvement of
The Legal Community
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33. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Involvement of
The Social Work Community
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34. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Involvement of Other
Professionals and Policy Makers
Community programs and educators
▪ Educate about potential scams, Do Not Call registry
▪ Educate about vulnerabilities, warning signs, and
prevention measures
Policy makers
▪ Elder Justice Act - March, 2010
▪ Improved regulation of post-retirement financial sector
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35. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
▪ Equal opportunity transgression, but more women than
men appear to be victims
▪ Financial capacity determination may deter the problem
▪ Higher incidence in community dwelling elders (we think)
▪ Under recognized and under reported
▪ Medico-socio-legal problem (and others)
▪ Grave consequences on a multiplicity of nested systems
▪ Prevention and intervention may require a team approach
▪ Numerous areas for researchers and practitioners to join
forces
▪ Health effects may be compelling
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The Take Away

36. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Selected Resources
▪ The National Center on Elder Abuse
▪ The National Committee for the Prevention of Elder
Abuse (including The Journal of Elder Abuse and
Neglect)
▪ The International Network for the Prevention of Elder
Abuse
▪ The National Adult Protective Services Association
▪ The great resources in Virginia and other states
▪ Your imagination and hard work!

37. CENTER FOR GERONTOLOGY
www.gerontology.vt.edu
Thank you!