Preventing financial abuse

A Dementia Q&A Sheet contains advice to help prevent the financial abuse of people with dementia.

It explains how the abuse can occur, how people can protect themselves, or the person they are caring for, from being financially abused, and who to contact if you, or a loved one, have been the victim of financial abuse.

It follows research by Dementia Australia NSW that found the majority of cases of financial abuse of people with dementia are by someone known to the victim, and that there is no clear mechanism for people to report suspected financial abuse.

E-learning tool for bank staff

There’s also a tool available to help frontline banking staff identify and support customers with dementia who may be victims of financial abuse.

Capacity Australia has released the E-Learning Tool For Bank Staff http://capacityaustralia.org.au/capacity-australia-launches-e-learning-tool-bank-staff/  to give them information about financial abuse and dementia.

Developed with a grant from the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre-Assessment and Better Care, at UNSW, the tool teaches staff to better understand dementia, financial capacity, supported decision-making, signs of financial abuse and appropriate responses to suspected abuse. It was tested on 69 staff across Australia from two major banks and showed almost 100% improvement in identifying abuse risk and what to do about it.

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• advice
• aged care
• dementia
• professional carers