Predictors of Receiving Help with Banking Among Older Adults With Probable Dementia

TL;DR

This study finds that about half of older adults with probable dementia receive help with banking, with factors like age, gender, and health influencing who gets assistance.

Contribution

The study identifies sociodemographic and health predictors of receiving banking help among older adults with probable dementia.

Findings

Only 52.7% of older adults with probable dementia received help with banking in the last month.

Older age, being female, not living with a spouse, and poorer health were associated with receiving banking help.

Those on Medicaid and with a proxy interview were more likely to receive help.

Abstract

Receiving help with financial matters has the potential to protect older adults with cognitive impairment from adverse economic consequences. Little is known on who receives help with banking among these older adults.

We used data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study to identify a cohort of older adults (aged 65 years and older) with probable dementia (n = 4048) (hereafter, OAPD). We used the first survey where the participant reported probable dementia, and excluded observations with incomplete data (n = 851). We used multivariate logistic regression to identify sociodemographic, household, health, and functional predictors associated with receiving help with banking in the last month.

Only about half of OAPD received help with banking (n = 1656, 52.7%). In adjusted analyses, being older (aOR 2.42 for age group >90 versus age group 65-69), female (aOR 1.33), not living with a spouse (aOR 1.69), on Medicaid (aOR 1.33), in poorer self-reported health (aOR 2.29 for poor health versus excellent health) or having a proxy answer the interview (aOR 2.92) were associated with receiving help with banking in the last month.

About half of OAPD do not receive help with banking, indicating a potential risk and unmet need. OAPD who are younger, male, living with a spouse, and not on Medicaid are more likely to not receive help with banking. Future work should explore which OAPD are at greatest risk of adverse economic and health consequences as a result of not having received helped with banking.