In recent decades, technology has changed how individuals interact with their money and with each other. A combination of financial vulnerability and low technological literacy puts many older adults at risk for identity theft, fraud, and financial exploitation. We reviewed the literature on financial capacity, financial exploitation, and digital literacy. Extant models and measures of financial capacity among older adults emphasize numeracy and basic functional skills, such as writing checks and counting change; these may not reflect the digital nature of contemporary financial activity. We propose the neuroecological model of financial capacity among older adults. This function-led model contends that financial capacity consists of neurocognitive abilities to make sound financial decisions in a complex environment, to use technology to monitor and carry out financial activities, and the ability to protect personal information and guard against fraud. This points to a need for more ecologically valid measures of financial capacity and vulnerability to financial exploitation that addresses the role of technology in everyday financial activities.
Among older adults with neurocognitive disorders, lower life satisfaction has been linked with poorer aspects of physical and mental health that affect quality of life, including depression. However, these associations between life satisfaction and mental health problems have not been found universally. In this study, we further investigated life satisfaction and depression within clinical and healthy older adult populations. Older adults (N = 98), ages 60 to 90 years either with (n = 25) or without (n = 73) a neurocognitive diagnosis, were administered self-report questionnaires measuring depression and life satisfaction. Results showed that although depression was negatively correlated with life satisfaction among both samples, older adults with dementia had higher depression scores but equivalent life satisfaction scores as older adults without dementia. In fact, both the clinical and healthy samples of older adults averaged on the positive or satisfied half of the life satisfaction scale. Older adults with neurocognitive disorders may generally experience higher depressive symptoms, yet despite challenges to quality of life, they seem to find satisfaction in their daily lives. This may stem from older adults viewing current depressive symptoms as a relatively short-term problem while evaluating life satisfaction across their whole lives. The best protective factors for older adults suffering from dementia and depression may therefore be found both in their present and in their past.
Objective: Virtual reality-based neuropsychological tests allow for immersive stimuli, which may increase ecological validity, and allows for the inclusion of standardized distractors. The Virtual Apartment Stroop test has demonstrated evidence of construct validity among healthy older adults, but no extant research has investigated its use among clinical populations. The purpose of this preliminary study was to investigate the Virtual Apartment Stroop test as a predictor of neurocognitive disorder among older adults. Method: The Virtual Apartment Stroop test was administered to older adults (n = 34; aged 61-90, M = 72.15, SD = 7.15; 44.1% men, 55.9% women) with (n = 7) or without (n = 27) a neurocognitive disorder as determined by a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation. In the Virtual Apartment, the participant is situated in a home environment and Stroop test stimuli occur in single-item presentation on the television screen. Participants were administered the Virtual Apartment Stroop test both with and without distractors, with the order counterbalanced. In the distractor condition, distracting stimuli appear in various locations in the participant’s field of view. Results: A total score was created by summing the total correct in the distractors and no distractors conditions. Binary logistic regression found that this score explained 17.5-27.5% of the variance in neurocognitive diagnosis, (Χ2 = 6.56, df = 1, p = .01, odds ratio: 0.97) and the model was able to correctly classify 85.3% of cases. Conclusion(s): These results provide preliminary evidence that the Virtual Apartment Stroop task is sensitive to neurocognitive diagnosis among older adults.
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