Wealth Loss, Dementia, and Cognitive Decline: Surfacing New Connections and Upstream Interventions

Chair(s)

• 

  Julie Miller, PhD, MSW (she/her/hers)

  Director of Thought Leadership, Financial Resilience
  Thought Leadership
  AARP
  Bethesda, Maryland, United States

Discussant(s)

• 

  Lucas Yoquinto (he/him/his)

  Research Associate
  AgeLab
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Individual Symposium Abstract First Author(s)

• 

  Jing Li, PhD, MA (she/her/hers)

  Associate Professor of Health Economics
  Pharmacy
  University of Washington
  Seattle, Washington, United States
• 

  Tsai-Chin Cho, MSc

  Doctoral Candidate
  Department of Epidemiology
  University of Michigan
  Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
• HC

  HwaJung Choi, PhD (she/her/hers)

  Research Associate Professor
  Internal Medicine
  University of Michigan
  Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Nearly one in ten adults in the United States over age 65 has dementia. Another two in ten have mild cognitive impairment: an early, symptomatic period of memory or cognitive decline experienced by those who do not yet meet the full diagnostic criteria for dementia. It has long been a matter of anecdote that serious personal finance losses can coincide with, and arise in the wake of, a dementia diagnosis. This symposium brings together leading researchers to explore financial losses than can occur both before and after formal dementia diagnosis.

The first presentation compares household financial trajectories of individuals who ultimately developed dementia with those who did not. The second presentation explores financial status of older adults prior to and following the onset of dementia. The third and final presentation explores changes in marital and health status (including but not limited to transitions from normal cognition to cognitive impairment or dementia) as risk factors for negative wealth shocks in older age. Combined, the presentations surface new insights and questions about connections between financial health and cognitive health. The presentations will be synthesized and brought together by a discussion of possible cross-sector, cross-industry intervention strategies that can be undertaken to protect individuals and families at risk of financial losses associated with dementia, especially in the pre-diagnosis period.

Presentations:

• 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM PST

  Dementia and Long-Run Changes in Financial Health Among US Households
  

  Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Jing Li, PhD, MA (she/her/hers) – University of Washington
• 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM PST

  Changes in Marital and Health Status as Risk Factors for a Subsequent Negative Wealth Shock in the US, 1996–2020
  

  Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Tsai-Chin Cho, MSc – University of Michigan
• 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM PST

  Financial Implications of Dementia: An Eight-Year Follow-Up of Matched Samples
  

  Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: HwaJung Choi, PhD (she/her/hers) – University of Michigan