SilverBills: A Legal, Technical and Financial Tool for Aging LGBTQ+ Individuals with Impaired Cognition.

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ABSTRACT Age is the greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (AD/ADRD) and an estimated 2.7 million LGBTQ+ Americans are older adults. LGBTQ+ older adults face discrimination and persecution throughout their lives, with only some recent legal protections for their sexual orientation and/or gender identification statuses in the United States. LGBTQ+ individuals with cognitive impairment are disproportionately impacted by their illness because of their sexual/gender minority status, which may cause an LGBTQ+ older adult to delay or avoid seeing a healthcare provider altogether due to fear of sexual orientation/gender identity discrimination. The economic stability of LGBTQ+ individuals is threatened due to the stigmatization and discrimination they have faced because of their sexual orientation/gender identification throughout their lives, which has impeded their ability to save and accumulate wealth; almost one third (32%) of LGBTQ+ adults aged 50 and older live on 200% of the Federal Poverty Level or less, in contrast to only 26% of non-LGBTQ+ older adults aged 65 and older. There are technology products that help foster economic wellbeing through tools that facilitate bill management and budgeting; however, these products often require a high degree of technical expertise and provide an insufficient degree of personal support to address the needs of those with cognitive impairment who identify as LGBTQ+. This application addresses the lack of financial management and legal support for older LGBTQ+ individuals with cognitive impairment, because SilverBills will develop and add features to its product that will help prevent fraud, encourage savings, and provide support for legal matters including legal claim support and obtaining powers of attorney. The goal of this project is to improve the financial wellbeing of older LGBTQ+ individuals with cognitive impairment through SilverBills V. 3 financial and legal management tool. The objective of this Direct to Phase II SBIR proposal is to develop an application for older LGBTQ+ individuals with cognitive impairment and assess financial wellbeing and mental health in LGBTQ+ individuals with cognitive impairment. This proposal aims to 1) to develop features in the SilverBills application to prevent fraud and promote savings for LGBTQ+ individuals with cognitive impairment, 2) to develop interactive features that support legal matters for LGBTQ+ individuals with cognitive impairment, and 3) to evaluate the impact of the SilverBills V3 on the financial wellbeing and mental health of aging LGBTQ+ individuals with cognitive impairment. The team will develop SilverBills V3 and support the rigorous scientific validation, which will provide evidence of innovation and provide technological tools for financial and legal management for older LGBTQ+ individuals with cognitive impairment.