Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for data collection was English-speaking U.S. residents, 18 or older who have (or had) at least one relative 60 or older or who are themselves at least 60 who have or had appointed a family member as power-of-attorney agent to manage their affairs. We recruited two groups of participants for this study: members of families who have experienced and those who have not experienced elder financial exploitation within their family system by a family member power of attorney agent. The target audiences we shared our findings with were U.S. individuals and families, and professionals who work with individuals/families in some way such as behavioral health professionals, fraud investigators and law enforcement (sheriff, police, county attorney), financial planners, healthcare providers, academics/researchers, social workers, attorneys who do estate planning, bankers, IT, marketing, APS, and DFS professionals, and Cooperative Extension Service educators. A separate audience who benefits from our work is peers who follow the academic literature on this topic. Through presentations at professional conferences, we have also had some international colleagues in attendance. Changes/Problems:This project team is leading the effort toenlarge the number of researchers supporting the broader multi-state project.Six researchers from around the country have decided to join the team and signed a commitment form including the W3191 authorship agreement for a minimum of the remaining two years of W3191. One drawback is that two of them are supported only on grant funding so they have less time to commit to this research than we and they would prefer. We are working to find funding that would support them and buy more time for other researchers who have heavy teaching loads. This group has worked well together and have contributed to ongoing work and have identified related new studies to build on the project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has provided numerous training opportunities open to the public and the legal profession (offering professional continuing legal education (cle) credits. Opportunities were hosted in the towns of Pine Bluffs, Rawlins, Laramie, Casper, and Jackson. The response to these events was positive and validated the importance of the topic and our approach to both the research and its dissemination. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Apart from the educational opportunities offered at professional conferences, published academic venues, and public-oriented in-person events, we have updated the project websites (one of which is for the research project, and other is for the public): http://www.uwyo.edu/fcs/confidential-surveyandhttps://www.uwyo.edu/uwe/programs/money/elder-financial-exploitation.html What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are writing grant proposals so that we can again have a server for all our researchers to have access to the data in Nvivo software. We are also working to finally finish coding the last few transcripts. The server will make that process much more efficient. A subgroup using genograms to record family dynamics in 20 family cases that have experienced EFFE will work to finish the analysis, present a paper at the National Council for Family Relationships, and thereafter get it published. We also have two other manuscripts that we plan to complete. We also will be presenting the findings at the Gerontological Society of America. We are also planning another study to develop and test an instrument based on the risk and protective factors identified in our project. We plan first to get feedback on it from Adult Protective Services caseworkers who investigate reports of EFFE. We will then refine the instrument and use the same process to get feedback from preventive professionals, i.e. financial planners and attorneys who do estate planning. Again we will use feedback on the instrument, further refine it, and then ask all three groups to field test it with their clients and again give us feedback. Our intention is to create an instrument that can help older adults make better decisions in developing and revising their estate planning documents, especially powers of attorney documents. This instrument could then be used to educate the public and other professionals, e.g. healthcare providers, bankers, care facility professionals, and therapists,who work with older clients to help them make better proactive decisions and to identify EFFE more quickly when it does occur.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Understand family members' experiences (thoughts and feelings) related to elder financial exploitation by a relative. Currently a subgroup, working in pairs, will soon finish coding the 52 interview transcripts collected in the phase 2 mixed-methods study focusing on family dynamics based on the interviewee data. Evidence of family dynamics such as closeness, distance, distrust, and enmeshment have been identified. In September we published an article in the Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect on survey data focused on family dynamics. Apaper to be presented in November 2020 at the Gerontological Society of America virtual conference on qualitative data on family dynamics is also in progress. 2. Identify risk and protective factors in family systems that increase or decrease the likelihood of family elder financial exploitation. A genogram project is focused on identifying family patterns that are commonly seen in families where EFFE occurs. This will provide a clearer understanding for the types of family dynamics as precursors to EFFE.This subgroup project is working to identify the range and scope of family experiences foundational to family elder financial exploitation, including the consequences of EFFE on family systems, but we have not reached saturation yet. Perhaps we will by the time we finish all the interview coding and analysis. During this process, we have expanded and refined the risk and protective factors we are analyzing. 3. Identify the range and scope of family experiences foundational to family elder financial exploitation, including the consequences of EFFE on family systems. By the time coding of all 52 transcripts is completed, we believe we will be close to or have reached saturation, at least with the largely Caucasian, above average educated population. We will need to explore more diverse groups in the future to determine if there are differences. 4. Disseminate findings and implications to gerontology, family studies, and family economics researchers and educators, law enforcement and attorneys, community-based practitioners, and family members. The project team has aggressively engaged stakeholder audiences to disseminate the insights from the research. This year three in-person presentations were developed: one was for Wyoming residents aged 50+, and the other two were approved for two continuing legal education credits (CLEs) by the Wyoming Bar Association. A virtual presentation was done for Legal Aid of Wyoming during a staff retreat. The first slide set was delivered in stand-alone workshops in the towns of Jackson and Rawlins. These presentations included attorneys and were also attended by social service professionals, senior center professionals, and the public.The presentation in Pine Bluffs was attended by Senior Center attendees and a staff member. The second version of the presentation was presented to partnering community-based groups including an agricultural association for women and Laramie Foster Grandparents (with presentation slides and handouts being distributed statewide to foster grandparents). A third presentation to the public (Thermopolis, Wyoming) was cancelled in March 2020 due to COVID. Other efforts for dissemination include an online presence. The primary dissemination website is housed with Wyoming's Cooperative Extension at http://www.uwyo.edu/uwe/programs/money/elder-financial-exploitation.html, but EFFE information is also on the Age-Friendly Laramie website. Further outputs will be added as they become available and partnerships develop. Output will also be posted on the research team information website. Abuse of Power of Attorney: Risk Factors, Prevention & Responding poster in the Agricultural and Natural Resources Building. October -December 2019. A 30-page (approximate) Extension bulletin is in the final stages of drafting. It will be available through University of Wyoming Extension. A dissemination campaign will include thousands of printed copies. Concurrent with the bulletin's release will be a public media campaign to guide people in wisely constructing their power of attorney documents. Finally, the Wyoming team initiated with a new state level advocacy group aimed at addressing issues related to vulnerable adults including proposing a modified state statute defining vulnerable adults which will permit more vulnerable adults to receive assistance from APS and law enforcement. This group is also doing public education via radio and newspapers. In addition, three of our new researchers this year have current experience and connections with APS in their states. 5.Continue to design further studies that build on earlier findings and create a conceptual model or expand Rabiner et al. (2004) Conceptual Model of Elder Financial Exploitation. Reported previously is the change to using Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model instead of Rabiner et al. Using family systems in addition to Bronfenbrenner's conceptual model adapted for application to EFFE, identifying grant opportunities and planning proposals, expanded researchers, identifying social determinants of EFFE. Assess effectiveness with practitioners of the Risk & Protective factors discussion/screening tool. Future studies and manuscripts planned, although not all may be completed in the next year are as follows: A study/manuscript to examine the social determinants of elder family financial exploitation, and associated risk and protective factors. Some of the social determinants of interest include social economic status, professional trajectories, gender roles, social isolation, and educational levels, among others. In a study to evaluate a screening tool developed from this research for use with both responsive professionals (Adult Protective Services) and preventativeprofessionals (attorneys and certified financial planners), we will seek diverse professionals working with diverse clients. The Genogram sub-project team anticipates at least 2 presentations and subsequent manuscripts. The first presentation/manuscript will focus on the methodology for analyzing genograms. Because there is limited literature on this topic andmethodology, this subgroup plans to explain our methods and analysis strategies to provide scholars with guidance on conducting research using genograms in the future. They plan to submit a paper to the National Council on Family Relations preconference, Theory Construction and Research Methodology workshop and then submit the paper to a journal such as the Journal of Family Theory and Review or other journal focusing on unique methodology. Our second presentation/manuscript will be to disseminate our findings of our analysis. The use of our initial methodological manuscript will provide needed support for moving our research manuscript towards publication. A specific journal for this manuscript has not been identified, however any journal focusing on family studies or gerontology would be a strong fit. Project quantitative data related to the family dynamics variables published in a Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglectarticle based on survey data. 5.Continue to design further studies that build on earlier findings and create a conceptual model or expand Rabiner et al. (2004) Conceptual Model of Elder Financial Exploitation. A subgroup of this group of scholars is analyzing transcript data already collected on twenty families who have experienced alleged or substantiated elder family financial exploitation (EFFE). They are developing a new analysis methodology using genograms to graphically document family dynamics including relationships and interaction patterns. The team will then document these relationship types using symbols on a genogram for each family. Once the genograms are complete, the team will evaluate similarities, differences, patterns, and themes across all 20 families who experienced EFFE.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Steinman, B. A., Vincenti, V. B., & Yoon, S. (September 2020). Family Dynamics and Their Association with Elder Family Financial Exploitation in Families with Appointed Powers of Attorney submitted to J. of Elder Abuse and Neglect. Published online. https://doi.org/10.1080/08946566.2020.1823290 This will be published in print in a couple of months.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Ehmke, C. and Vincenti, V. (2019). Elder Family Financial Exploitation. Agricultural Experiment Station Field Days Bulletin. University of Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station. Laramie, Wyoming. pp110-111
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Teaster, P. B., Vincenti, V., Betz-Hamilton, A., Bolkan, C. and Jasper, C. (2019). Themes from Elder Financial Exploitation by Family Member Powers of Attorney. In Gender, Sexual Identity, and Families: The Personal Is Political. Co-editors: Lyness, K. & Fischer, J. (Monograph, vol. 6), http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/groves.9453087.0005.001
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Betz-Hamilton, A., Vincenti, V., & Chapman, A. Understanding Perpetrators of Elder Family Financial Exploitation (EFFE): An Ecological Approach, manuscript in progress.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Vincenti, V. B. Family Dynamics & Elder Financial Exploitation by Family-Member Powers-of-Attorney Agents. Paper presentation & discussion. Gerontological Society of America Virtual Conference, November 7, 2020. (accepted).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Vincenti, V. B. & Steinman, B. A. Family Dynamics and Their Association with Elder Family Financial Exploitation in Families with Appointed Powers of Attorney. American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Annual Conference. Virtual Conference. June 25-26, 2020 (poster)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Ehmke, C. and Vincenti, V. Abuse of Power of Attorney: Risk Factors, Prevention and Responding. Extension Risk Management Education National Conference. Denver, CO. April 1-2, 2020 (poster)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Ehmke, C. Elder Family Financial Exploitation. Wyoming Women in Ag Symposium. Casper, Wyoming. 15 November 2019.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Vincenti, V. B. and Chapman, A. Elder Family Financial Exploitation by Power-of-Attorney Agents Through the Lens of Bronfenbrenners PPCT Model. Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting. Austin, TX. 14 November 2019.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Vincenti, V. B. Legal Aid of Wyoming Virtual Annual Staff Retreat. Prevention: Family Risk & Protective Factors Affecting the Likelihood of Elder Family Financial Exploitation (EFFE). Staff Retreat. August 7, 2020.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Vincenti, V. B. and Werth, C. Prevention: Family Risk & Protective Factors Affecting the Likelihood of Elder Family Financial Exploitation (EFFE). Jackson Hole, WY: Teton County Extension Office. 30 September 2019. (Attorneys received 2 Continuing Legal Aid credits.)
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Vincenti, V. B. and Werth, C. Preventing Elder Financial Exploitation: Risk and Protective Factors within Families. Pine Bluffs, WY: Pine Bluffs Senior Center. 26 September 2019.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Vincenti, V. Prevention: Family Risk & Protective Factors Affecting the Likelihood of Elder Family Financial Exploitation (EFFE), Guest Speaker, SOWK 3650 Generalist Social Work Practice III: Communities and Organizations, Assistant Professor: April 14, 2020
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Ehmke, C. and Vincenti, V. (October 2019). Elder Family Financial Exploitation: Data Analysis. USDA NIFA priority area of Communities, Families, and Youth. $10,000. Funded.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Ehmke, C. and Vincenti, V. (2019). Elder Family Financial Exploitation Awareness & Prevention. John P. Ellbogen Foundation, Wyoming Communities, Agriculture, and Rural Living Fund. $12,240.00 in the first year and $1,025.00 in the second year. Funded.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Vincenti, V. (2019). Preventing Elder Family Financial Exploitation: Risk and Protective Factors within Families by Family-Member Power-of-Attorney Agents. Phi Upsilon Omicron Educational Foundation, Inc. December 31, 2019-December 31, 2021. $2,500.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Vincenti, V. B. and Chapman, A. (14 November 2019). Understanding Risk and protective Factors for Elder Family Financial Exploitation: A preventive Approach. Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting. Austin, TX.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Vincenti, V. B. (1 October 2019). Prevention: Family Risk & Protective Factors Affecting the Likelihood of Elder Family Financial Exploitation (EFFE). Rawlins, WY: Rawlins Senior Center.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Vincenti, V. B. Prevention: Family Risk & Protective Factors Affecting the Likelihood of Elder Family Financial Exploitation (EFFE). Laramie Foster Grandparents. La Bonte Park Building, Laramie, WY. September 19, 2020.
|
Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for data collection was English-speaking U.S. residents, 18 or older who have (or had) at least one relative 60 or older or who are themselves at least 60 who have or had appointed a family member as power-of-attorney agent to manage their affairs. We recruited two groups of participants for this study: members of families who have experienced and those who have not experienced elder financial exploitation within their family system by a family member power of attorney agent. The target audiences we shared our findings with were U.S. individuals and families, and professionals who work with individuals/families in some way such as behavioral health professionals, fraud investigators and law enforcement (sheriff, police, county attorney), financial planners, healthcare providers, academics/researchers, social workers, attorneys, bankers, IT, marketing, APS, and DFS professionals, and Cooperative Extension Service educators. A separate audience who benefits from our work is peers who follow the academic literature on this topic. Through presentations at professional conferences, we have also had some international colleagues in attendance. Changes/Problems:The biggest challenge has been losing several researchers on our team due to career changes and also refocus of their research interest or change in responsibilities. We are currently recruiting new team members. We have found one, Dr. Sukyung Yoon, Assistant Professor of Social Work, U. of Wyoming. We are also pursuing other inquiries while at the GSA conference in November and calls will go out in January to relevant professional organization special interest groups. We have also identified a couple of attorneys with experience with elder law to help us understand the legal issues raised by participants in their interviews. We will also work with them to identify changes in common practice that could increase emphasis on prevention of EFFE. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Professional development activities include participation at 1.Rocky Mt. Elder Law Retreat, held in Vail, Colorado in August 2019. 2.A Workshop for Victims of Elder Financial Exploitation & Abuse & Elder Justice Advocates held in Washington, DC in June 2019. 3. Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific meeting, Austin, TX, November 13-17, 2019. 4. Two training sessions for the researchers on the use the NVivo 12 version of the NVivo software we have been using, May 2019. Additional professional development activities include expanding and updating our reference list and collection of sources in RefWorks that facilitates individual study of published academic literature and review of materials from various sources including government agencies, non-profits and professional associations to inform our research process, analysis, manuscript development, educational/dissemination efforts, and design of the next phase. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?See Accomplishments section, Goal 4 for details. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Looking forward to the period 1 October 2019 to 30 September 2020: • One team member will continue to refine the software program he wrote to assist in assigning pseudonyms to the voluminous interviews that will avoid duplication of pseudonyms and maintain family groupings of participants in the same family. Continue to code, and analyze follow-up interviews from the Phase 2 transcripts. • Integrate the quantitative survey data we have already in NVivo with the qualitative data for this phase to provide more robust results. • Publish findings in both academic outlets and outlets directed to the public and specific audiences. • Revise the survey to improve its focus for future research guided by findings in Phases 1 and 2. • Develop the next phase of study and seek funding for it. • Continue recruiting more researchers since we have lost two to changes in careers and positions. • Continue and expand dissemination to the public. Funding from an Ellbogen grant received for FY2019 and FY2020 to educate the general public via several means: development and delivery of an UW Extension educational bulletin, a series of five workshops in various communities around Wyoming, development of two standalone displays that will travel around the state, and an online self-study course. The aim of the outputs is to increase proactive identification of risk factors for EFE and prompt people to think deeply about choosing a power of attorney agent and what they include in their end-of-life documents. This project will increase community capacity to recognize and prevent exploitation of the elderly. Media will also be used to educate the public. • Continue to improve and expand recruitment for participants for Phase 3 (since this research is ongoing) • We will continue to try to expand the diversity of participants in the research in Phase 3 and to expand the audience for dissemination in Phase 2. The project team is also working to schedule two presentations on the Wind River Indian Reservation and working with Legal Aid of Wyoming Inc. and other relevant persons to customize the presentations to be sensitive and relevant to the Eastern Shoshoni and Northern Arapaho tribal cultures and laws unique to the Reservation.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
(1) Understand family members' experiences (thoughts and feelings) related to elder financial exploitation by a relative. We have continued working on this by completing the Phase 2 interviews, analyzing the survey data from 48 participants, and coding the 46 transcripts. Two participants completed the survey, but they did not complete their follow-up interviews. Because there are so many transcripts and because we experienced challenges with the de-identification process as the number of transcripts increased, we are still analyzing those transcripts. To date we have participants living in multiple states that involve relevant family members in 26 states. (2) Identify risk and protective factors in family systems that increase or decrease the likelihood of family elder financial exploitation. Progress on analyzing the collected interviews from the project continues. Grant funding sought and awarded during the year have been used to explore the data, develop publishable outputs, and hire legal and technical expertise to continue de-identifying the many transcripts without name duplication. Grant funds have also been obtained to provide compensation for a research team member formerly an academic with a research appointment, now self-employed. Specifically, the analysis includes coding the transcript data, incorporating survey data analyzed using SPSS, and running analyses in NVivo software. The additional results will strengthen the accuracy and reliability of previous findings on risk and protective factors for victims, perpetrators, and families. Overall the project's findings will contribute to prevention of elder family financial exploitation (EFFE). Previous research in the field has identified some personal characteristics of perpetrators, but to our knowledge no one outside our multi-state team has delved into the multiple factors of family-member characteristics, family and individual values, resource exchange patterns, parenting, geographic proximity, communication, decision-making, problem-solving, and financial management practices in relation to EFFE. We have now collected enough survey data to have valid results (48 participants being minimal). Examining the data for both exploitive and successful situations helps to clarify both the risks of EFFE occurring and the protective factors contributing to prevention. We are developing a Risk and Protective Factors Screening Tool that we will continue to refine and validate, drawing from published studies, experts, and focus groups. (3) Identify the range and scope of family experiences foundational to family elder financial exploitation, including the consequences of EFE on family systems. This is being accomplished through the collection and analysis of additional data in Phase 2. We are finding many of the same factors and consequences, although there are some new ones as well. So, we haven't reached saturation quite yet. We also realize that we have a very homogeneous U.S. participant sample so that generalization is limited. Therefore, in the future data collection needs to involve more diverse populations. (4) Disseminate findings and implications to gerontology, family studies, and family economics researchers and educators, law enforcement and attorneys, community-based practitioners, and family members. This was a productive year for the project, especially for its dissemination aspects. During the reporting period 11 workshops/presentations were held: four were in the state of Wyoming; four had regional reach; and three had national reach. The four Wyoming presentations were supported primarily by grant funds received by the project investigators for educational programs in Wyoming rural areas. Participants included interested citizens as well as attorneys (some of the classes were approved for continuing legal education credits). Other professionals were in social service agencies, healthcare, Extension, Senior Centers, banks, and investment companies. Each participant was asked to do a reflective pre-post assessment of their knowledge on a five-point scale. We calculated the increase in knowledge in four areas. Evaluations of the participants indicate: 1. An increase in knowledge related to individual risk factors of 45%. 2. An increase in knowledge related to perpetrator risk factors of 40%. 3. An increase in knowledge of family risk factors of 40%. 4. An increase in knowledge of elder financial abuse overall of 46%. Overall the workshops were rated 8 on a 10-point scale for training quality. Many comments were provided that reinforced the importance of the topic. Additionally, many participants reported the intention to apply and share insights from the training, and some provided suggestions for revision of the workshop. The dissemination efforts with a regional and national reach improved the ability of citizens and professionals in the legal and law enforcement fields to recognize and address the issues of elder family financial exploitation. Further workshops are planned for 2019-2020 nationally and especially in Wyoming. Outputs will also include a finished Extension bulletin, a revised website, and educational posters/displays. Outputs of a more academic nature include a book chapter and two conference papers. Two manuscripts are in process. (5) Continue to design further studies that build on earlier findings and create a conceptual model or expand Rabiner et al. (2004) Conceptual Model of Elder Financial Exploitation. We are not using the most recent iteration of Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Theory of Human Development which has been very helpful in organizing the codes and understanding the interrelationships of different contextual influences on victims, fiduciaries some of whom become perpetrators, and other family members related to each family case. It has also helped us understand and organize personal characteristics, repetitive processes that affect individual family members and the family system, and to consider the influences of contextual time or periods in which key family members were born and lived and such influences on older generations that have influenced them, e.g. parents. As we continue to work this year, we note insights about what we should do for a Phase 3 study after completing Phase 2. We continue to incorporate these insights when appropriate into the revision of the Phase 2 survey we plan to use in Phase 3. Funding sources include the University of Wyoming's Agricultural Experiment Station, Kappa Omicron Nu and Phi Upsilon Omicron Honor Societies, and John P. Ellbogen Foundation Wyoming Communities, Agriculture, and Rural Living Fund. The research group has expanded with the addition ofSukyung Yoon, an assistant professor in the Division of Social Work at the University of Wyoming.Dr. Yoon's research focuses on the public health dimensions of gerontological mental and physical health both in the U.S. and South Korea. She is interested in identifying pathways that reduce or prevent the accumulative and negative impact of adversity over the lifespan. She is excited to be part of our project and to make a contribution that overlaps with her research.
Publications
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Teaster, P. B., Vincenti, V., Betz-Hamilton, A., Bolkan, C. and Jasper, C. (2019). Themes from Elder Financial Exploitation by Family Member Powers of Attorney. In Gender, Sexual Identity, and Families: The Personal Is Political. Co-editors: Lyness, K. & Fischer, J. (Monograph, vol. 6). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/groves.9453087.0005.001
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Elder Family Financial Exploitation by Power of Attorney Agents through the Lens of Bronfenbrenners PPCT Model. Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting, Austin, Texas, 14 November 2019.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Understanding Risk and Protective Factors for Elder Family Financial Exploitation: A Preventative Approach. Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting, Austin, Texas, 13 November 2019.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Presentation: Preventing Elder Family Financial Exploitation (EFFE): Identifying Risk and Protective Factors. Rocky Mt. Elder Law Retreat. Vail, CO. 24 August 2019.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Workshop: What Research Tells Us: Family Risk & Protective Factors Affecting Elder Family Financial Exploitation. Knowledge is Power: A Workshop for Victims of Elder Financial Exploitation & Abuse & Elder Justice Advocates. Washington, DC. 10 June 2019
|
Progress 04/06/18 to 09/30/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for data collection was English-speaking U.S. residents, 18 or older who have (or had) at least one relative 60 or older or who are themselves at least 60 who have or had appointed a family member as power-of-attorney agent to manage their affairs. We recruited two groups of participants for this study: members of families who have experienced and those who have not experienced elder financial exploitation within their family system by a family member power of attorney agent. The target audiences we shared our findings with were U.S. individuals and families, and professionals who work with individuals/families in some way such as behavioral health professionals, fraud investigators and law enforcement (sheriff, police, county attorney), financial planners, home care providers, academics/researchers, social workers, attorneys, bankers, IT people, marketing, APS, DFS, and Cooperative Extension Service educators. A separate audience who benefits from our work is peers who follow the academic literature on this topic. Changes/Problems: Recruitment of participants for data collection is an ongoing challenge because of the sensitive nature of this topic. We continue to seek new venues and approaches to do this such as AARP and the Wyoming Center on Aging. We have also added two new team members: one is a clincial psychologist and faculty member at the University of Wyoming and another is a staff attorney at the University of Wyoming Civil Legal Services Clinic that serves the public. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Professional development activities include participation at theGroves Conference on Marriage and Family, held in Portland, Maine, and the Shepard Symposium on Social Justice and the Wyoming Center on Aging annual conference, both held at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming. Additional professional development activities include expanding and updating our reference list and collection of sources in RefWorks that facilitates individual study of published academic literature and review of materials designed for general usage from various sources including government agencies, non-profits and professional associations. These activities inform our research and our educational/dissemination efforts, which include the results of our research and other resources for people as they need them. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Three presentations have been made. "Betrayal in Families: Factors Associated with Elder Financial Exploitation by Relatives with Powers of Attorney" (10/17/17) at the Shepard Symposium at the University of Wyoming attended by approximately 50. "What We Know: Family Risk & Protective Factors Affecting the Likelihood of Elder Family Financial Exploitation (EFFE)" (6/13/18). A presentation at theGroves Conference on Marriage and Family in Portland, Maine attended had approximately 40. "Beyond Estate Planning: What Families need to Proactively Prepare for Success During Late-Life Dependency" (5/3/18). A webinar to the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. There were 76 who registered for the event, 44 who attended the LIVE session, and there have been 54 viewings of the archive (as of December, 2018). Only 20 individuals completed the post-webinar survey. Of those 20, 60 percent indicated that the webinar was exactly what the needed. Another 30% indicated that the webinar was helpful. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We need to continue to conduct, code, and analyzefollow-up interviews from the Phase 2 transcripts. Analyze the qualitative survey data we have already collected and integrate it with the qualitative data from the follow-up interviewsfor more robust results. Publish findings in both academic outlets and outlets directed to the public and specific audiences. As a team, revise the survey to improve and focus it for future research guided by the findings in Phases 1 and 2. Develop the next phase of study and seek funding for it. Refine the software program one team member wrote to assist in assigning pseudonyms to the voluminous interview data. Since this research is ongoing, continue to improve and expand recruitment for participants for Phase 3. Future dissemination to the public will use an Ellbogen grant received for FY2019 and FY2020 to educate the general public via several means: development and delivery of an UW Extension educational bulletin, a series of five workshops in various communities around Wyoming, development of two standalone displays that will travel around the state, and an online self-study course. The aim of the outputs is to increase proactive identification of risk factors for EFE and prompt people to think deeply about choosing a power of attorney agent. This project will increase community capacity to recognize and prevent exploitation of the elderly. Funding for these outputs has been received from a grant from the John P. Ellbogen Foundation Wyoming Communities, Agriculture, and Rural Living Fund in the amount of about $13,000. The effort is co-led by Cole Ehmke and Virginia Vincenti, and they have partnered with UW Extension Educator Mary Martin. Media will also be used to educate the public.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: During this year, we made substantial progress in recruiting participants for our mixed methods study by working with UW's Institutional Marketing and Information Technology offices to develop a website to promote the study, provide a web-based form to establish eligibility requirements for participation, indicate whether interested participants' families had alleged or verified elder financial exploitation by a family member using powers of attorney (the form assigns participants to one of two groups), collect contact information, and provide a web-based consent form. Both forms are automatically sent to an email folder of one of the researchers. The link to this website was embedded into promotional emails distributed through contacts at the National Center on Elder Abuse, the Ageless Alliance, and other organizations. This greatly increased efficiency in data collection and resulted in 48 survey participants and 32follow-up interviews with some yet to be conducted. Goal 2: Data from Phase 1 of data collection continued to be analyzed even as data was being collected for Phase 2. Phase 2 expanded on Phase 1 by collecting data from family-member participants who have not experienced elder financial exploitation by a family member using powers of attorney (POA). This provides the source of protective factors that could have prevented those families from experiencing elder financial exploitation and a comparison group to the families that have experienced elder financial exploitation. Unlike Phase 1 that collected data via in depth phenomenological interviews, Phase 2 employed a mixed methods design with an initial survey, followed by an in depth interview that provided an opportunity to expand responses in the survey and to explore contextual influences on the power-of-attorney period with a family-member POA agent. We have been using Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model, which has been very helpful. Goal 3: We still need to gather more data from a larger sample to be able to identify the range and scope of family experiences although we are gaining understanding of the risk and protective factors within families that could increase or decrease the likelihood that elder financial exploitation would occur. Goal 4: Dissemination activities this year included a presentation to professional colleagues at the Groves Conference on Marriage and Family. Portland, Maine, and presentations to the general public. The public presentations were held in Laramie, Wyoming, and via webinar through the American Family and Consumer Science Association. In addition, a paper was accepted to the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics. Future plans for dissemination to the general public focus on a grant-funded multi-pronged effort that will develop an educational bulletin (to be peer reviewed and published by University of Wyoming Extension), a series of five workshops, two standalone displays that will travel around the state, and an online self-study course. Goal 5: From using the survey with follow-up interviews, we realized that the survey needs to be revised and refined. That will be done with a Phase 3 project that builds upon results from Phases 1 & 2. That will be redesigned in the early part of the next reporting year. Since this goal was written, we have changed our theoretical foundation from Rabiner et al (2004) to the more comprehensive Bronfenbrenner Bioecological Model.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Betz-Hamilton, A. and Vincenti, V. B. (2018). Risk Factors within Families Associated with Elder Financial Exploitation by Relatives with Powers of Attorney. Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences. 110 (1): 19-27.
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Teaster, P. B., Vincenti, V., Betz-Hamilton, A., Bolkan, C. and Jasper, C. (2018). Themes from Elder Financial Exploitation by Family Member Powers of Attorney. In Gender, Sexual Identity, and Families: The Personal Is Political. Co-editors: Lyness, K. & Fischer, J. (Monograph, vol. 6).
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