Major and Classification
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Faculty Mentors
- Professor Kate Wilber
Department
- Gerontology
McNair Project
“Executive Dysfunction in the Elderly and Financial Abuse”
This research project proposes to address the problem of financial abuse in the elderly by examining the role of cognitive impairment. Cognitive competence or the ability to perform simple tasks in everyday life makes an individual capable of living independently. This research explores the relationship between the executive dysfunction or cognitive impairment in elders and piloting an instrument to assess cognitive impairment in the elderly, which helps give some indication of their likelihood of becoming financially abused. This pilot study is composed of eight individuals, who have been financially abused at some point in their life. They have been tested with various psychological tests that measure daily functioning. Without a valid instrument, we cannot test the relationship between executive dysfunction and the susceptibility of financial abuse.