Conceptual Model and Map of Financial Exploitation of Older Adults

This article describes the processes and outcomes of three-dimensional concept mapping to conceptualize financial exploitation of older adults. Statements were generated from a literature review and by local and national panels consisting of 16 experts in the field of financial exploitation. These statements were sorted and rated using Concept Systems software, which grouped the statements into clusters and depicted them as a map. Statements were grouped into six clusters, and ranked by the experts as follows in descending severity: (a) theft and scams, (b) financial victimization, (c) financial entitlement, (d) coercion, (e) signs of possible financial exploitation, and (f) money management difficulties. The hierarchical model can be used to identify elder financial exploitation and differentiate it from related but distinct areas of victimization. The severity hierarchy may be used to develop measures that will enable more precise screening for triage of clients into appropriate interventions.     

The treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder in an extended care psychiatric rehabilitation program

This research study intended to determine which patient diagnostic group benefited most from an extended care psychiatric rehabilitation program (Program). Archival data were used to assess the completion rates among those subjected to one or more of the Program's treatment modalities. A correlational design was used to determine whether demographic or diagnostic variables were related to program completion. The results indicate that patients with a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder or bipolar disorder are the most likely diagnostic groups to benefit from participation in an extended care psychiatric rehabilitation program. Those patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or substance abuse may not be appropriate for this type of treatment program, and in this study, were the least likely to benefit.     

The Influence of Task Interruption on Individual Decision Making: An Information Overload Perspective

Interruptions are a common aspect of the work environment of most organizations. Yet little is known about how interruptions and their characteristics, such as frequency of occurrence, influence decision-making performance of individuals. Consequently, this paper reports the results of two experiments investigating the influence of interruptions on individual decision making. Interruptions were found to improve decision-making performance on simple tasks and to lower performance on complex tasks. For complex tasks, the frequency of interruptions and the dissimilarity of content between the primary and interruption tasks was found to exacerbate this effect. The implications of these results for future research and practice are discussed.     

The Effects of Interruptions,Task Complexity,and Information Presentation on Computer‐Supported Decision‐Making Performance

Interruptions are a frequent occurrence in the work life of most decision makers. This paper investigated the influence of interruptions on different types of decision‐making tasks and the ability of information presentation formats, an aspect of information systems design, to alleviate them. Results from the experimental study indicate that interruptions facilitate performance on simple tasks, while inhibiting performance on more complex tasks. Interruptions also influenced the relationship between information presentation format and the type of task performed: spatial presentation formats were able to mitigate the effects of interruptions while symbolic formats were not. The paper presents a broad conceptualization of interruptions and interprets the ramifications of the experimental findings within this conceptualization to develop a program for future research.