Financial exploitation of elders: Analysis of risk factors based on countyadult protective services data

While all types of elder abuse and neglect are serious problems affecting t housands of vulnerable elders, financial exploitation has especially seriou s implications for the victims' economic well-being and quality of life, be cause it may deprive the victims of their life savings and assets and thus their economic foundation for independence. In this study, data from the ca se files of a county adult protective services program were analyzed to ide ntify risk factors associated with financial exploitation of and mismanagem ent by elders. The elders who were financially exploited were, on average, in their late seventies and tended to be cognitively impaired. We also foun d that owner-occupant elders were especially vulnerable to exploitation and that financial mismanagement and exploitation often occurred together. App roximately 60% of the perpetrators were relatives of the elderly victims, m ostly their adult children, and the rest of the perpetrators were not relat ed to the victims. Implications for interventions include case management f or frail, cognitively impaired elders; preventive educational programs; and ongoing collaboration among adult protective services, financial instituti ons, and law enforcement agencies.