An overwhelming majority of doctors and nurses feel financial fraud is a very or somewhat serious problem for the elderly, according to a survey by the Investor Protection Trust (IPT) released Wednesday.
At the same time, the IPT, a nonprofit organization devoted to investor education, is finding more interest among financial advisors about the issue of elder investment fraud and exploitation, Don Blandin, president and CEO of IPT, says. The IPT held a press conference Wednesday to announce the results of the survey.
“Doctors and nurses must play an important front-line role if we are going to do a better job of spotting older Americans who have been or are being victimized by investment fraud or other financial exploitation,” Blandin says.
According to the survey, 82 percent of the 603 doctors and nurses surveyed feel financial fraud of the elderly is a serious problem. Also, 21 percent say they are aware that they are often dealing with the elderly victims of investment fraud or financial exploitation.
Mild cognitive impairment often makes seniors more vulnerable to investment fraud, according to 92 percent of those surveyed. More than four out of five (81 percent) feel that doctors have an important role to play in recognizing and reporting the signs of investment fraud and financial exploitation targeting the elderly.
One out of five people over the age of 65 or 7 million people have already been victimized, says Blandin.
According to Dr. Robert Roush, director of the Texas Consortium Geriatric Education Center at Baylor College of Medicine, mild cognitive impairment “is a medical condition that can have very serious consequences when it comes to how susceptible older Americans are to con artists and others seeking to exploit them financially.”
Financial advisors also have a role to play in preventing elderly financial abuse, Blandin says, and the IPT is seeing an increased interest on their part about the issue.
“We’re seeing an increase in the discussions by financial advisors who are seeing signs of mild cognitive impairment in their clients” that can lead to financial abuse, says Blandin. “State regulators stand ready to help in these cases.”