Perspective of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and Their Paid Support Providers Regarding Financial Abuse

Abstract

The objective of this dissertation was to conduct inclusive qualitative research to add to the literature regarding financial abuse among persons with intellectual disabilities. The project aimed to investigate how individuals with intellectual disabilities and their paid support providers define financial abuse and interpret such situations. We also involved two advisors with intellectual disabilities in different phases of the project. We produced one rapid scoping review which examined the inclusive research literature on involving persons with intellectual and other cognitive disabilities in research and program evaluation teams. The results of the scoping review informed the inclusive strategies that we used during the project. We also conducted two inclusive qualitative studies; one investigated the perspectives of persons with intellectual disabilities regarding financially abusive situations, and another one examined the perspectives of paid support providers regarding financial abuse. We conducted semi-structured interviews using three short vignettes on different forms of financial abuse (i.e., implicit, explicit and no financial abuse) with 12 persons with intellectual disabilities with mild level of support needs and five short vignettes (two implicit, two explicit and one no financial abuse) with 14 paid support providers. For example, explicit financial abuse includes a situation in which someone is forced to pay for another person; and implicit financial abuse comprises a situation in which a support provider or caregiver does not allow an individual to spend their money how they wish to. The support providers included those who directly (i.e., support workers and social workers) or indirectly (i.e., managers and directors) work with persons with intellectual disabilities. Studying financial abuse among persons with intellectual disabilities and their support providers highlights the need for and importance of developing a comprehensive definition of financial abuse to help with the identification of abusive situations. This dissertation also adds to the knowledge base regarding some of the factors that impact the interpretations of persons with intellectual disabilities regarding financially abusive situations. Lastly, we discuss our proposed financial abuse prevention strategies, informed by the socio-ecological model, to approach this societal problem in a systematic manner.