Social Impact Assessment of Elderly with Cognitive Impairment: a Case Study of the Financial Industry Using Survey Methods

AbstractBackground: As Taiwan continues its transition to a super-aged society, the number of people with dementia increases rapidly. Previous study in the UK has shown that 65% of people with dementia need assistance in dealing with the bank, and they are at risk of financial abuse or targeted by scams as their memory deteriorated. In response to WHO’s global “dementia friendly” movement, this project seeks to understand the social impact of elderly with cognitive impairment on businesses and its employees, choosing the financial industry as an example. Objectives: To conduct surveys and interviews on topics related to both the needs of both customers and the employees in the financial industry.Year 1 Aim: To understand whether local banks could meet the need of their customers with cognitive impairment or dementia. . Year 2 Aims: (1) To estimate the prevalence of adult child caregivers for disabled parents among employees over the age of 45 in the financial industry. (2) To understand employee expectations of company's human resources policies and assess their need in caregiver training courses Methods: By following the four phases of Social Impact Assessment, this project takes the financial sector as a case study and uses multi-stage sampling to draw firms, branches, and employees. In Year 1, 10 firms would be randomly selected and recruited to participate in the study. Next, branches will be drawn according geographical location using stratification sampling. Qualitative interviews would be conducted with branch supervisors to find out whether branches had experiences of serving clients with cognitive impairment and whether they witnessed any suspected financial abuse and its aftermath. In Year 2, there will be two sets of interviews with different stakeholders: (1) Interview human resources directors about their assessment of employees’ caregiver role and the firm’s response (2) Recruit 782 middle-aged employees to complete a questionnaire about their experience caring for their elders and the impact on their work. The survey also asks employees about their expectations of the firm's human resources policies and their needs for caregiver training courses.Expected results: Through collaborations between public health and financial sectors, the project will provide quantitative and qualitative information on the social impact of elderly cognitive impairment on businesses. By holding workshops on dementia friendly communities and caregiver training sessions, this project seeks to promote a dementia friendly society for people with dementia and their caregivers.