Developing and Testing a Culturally Relevant Practice Model to Understand Financial Maltreatment of Chinese American Elders

Goals and Objectives: The overarching purpose of this project is to develop a culturally relevant model to help identify sociocultural factors that influence self-report of financial maltreatment in Chinese American elders. Specifically, this proposed study seeks to achieve three related aims. Aim 1: Create and refine an assessment tool to identify financial maltreatment (i.e., financial neglect and financial exploitation) of Chinese American elders through focus group interviews of elders, family caregivers and service providers. The incorporation of elder and caregiver perspectives ensures cultural relevance while insights of service professionals ensure its congruence with laws and policies. Aim 2: Assess the reliability and validity of the financial maltreatment assessment tool through a survey of a sample of Chinese American elders. Aim 3: Develop and test a culturally relevant framework that sheds light on risk factors of financial maltreatment for Adult Protective Service (APS), law enforcement, and other aging service providers.
Research Design and Methods: This study will use a two-phase mixed methods design. In phase I (Elicitation Stage), a total of five focus group interviews consisting of three Chinese
American elder groups, one Chinese American family caregiver groups, and one aging service worker group with experience dealing with elder abuse in Chinese American families, will be conducted to more clearly define financial maltreatment of Chinese American elders. In phase II
(Validation Stage), survey questions will be refined on the basis of the findings of focus group discussions in phase I, and then delivered to a sample of 225 Chinese American elders living in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Analysis: Focus group interviews will be recorded and transcribed for data analysis. Content analysis will be employed to help identify the most appropriate items to assess financial maltreatment. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques will be used to run confirmatory factor analyses to assess the latent structure of financial maltreatment and the model fit for the conceptual model will be analyzed.ca/ncf