Measuring Financial Exploitation in Northern Ireland.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Developing and Piloting Financial Exploitation Measures in Northern Ireland
IRAS ID
173816
Contact name
Amanda Phelan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Health and Social Care Board
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 9 days
Research summary
Financial abuse (FA), is of particular concern as prevalence studies and formal agency statistics frequently rank this as the first or second most common perpetration of abuse of older people (Naughton et al. 2010, Acerino et al. 2009, Lindert et al. 2013) and vulnerable adults (SCIE 2011) and its prevalence is rising (Ross 2013). However, FA is under-researched, under-reported, under-recognised and under prosecuted (MetLife 2011), thus increased understanding is required. Equally, the potential for financial abuse of younger vulnerable adults, (predominantly people with intellectual disability) is present and articulated in safeguarding practices in various jurisdictions (McKee 2014). While the literature on FA is predominantly presented for older adults, the proposed research will focus on how financial abuse can be screened and measured in a population of older people and people with intellectual disabilities under the umbrella term of vulnerable adults.
The research will focus on developing screening and background information through working in focus groups with health and social care staff in the five Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland. This information will be integrated with the extant international literature on financial abuse of vulnerable adults. A screening assessment will then be produced and validated via staff review and cognitive interviewing with selected staff members. A cohort of staff will then be recruited to pilot the tool for a period of six months as part of their health and social care practice in Northern Ireland. Results will be anonymised and rendered confidential. Results will be analysed to examine the utility of the tool and the specific outcomes of the tool in terms of types of financial abuse experienced by vulnerable adults.REC name
HSC REC A
REC reference
15/NI/0056
Date of REC Opinion
9 Apr 2015
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion