Dorien Bangma

FDM CAPABILITY OF PATIENTS WITH MCI, AD AND PD | 115 i.e., the subject is not able to meet their basic needs, despite the fact that they have adequate capability to make financial decisions. Unfortunately, to date (as far as we know) none of the published performance tests or questionnaires that focus on measuring financial competence and/or performance is available in Dutch. Also, as the foregoing makes clear, it is not possible to make a good estimate of a person’s ability to make financial decisions by merely looking at their financial competence (i.e., financial knowledge or financial judgment) or financial performance. Lastly, it is noteworthy that none of the published tools measures contextual factors that have an influence on financial performance and competence, or that are inherent in financial behaviour in everyday life, such as income, impulse buying behaviour or different coping and personality styles that influence financial decisions. It would seem, then, that a broad-based, detailed approach is needed to gain a good understanding of a person’s capability to make financial decisions. It was therefore decided to compile and develop a comprehensive Financial Decision-Making (FDM) test battery, one that covers not only financial competence and financial performance but also contextual factors that could have an influence on financial competence and performance. The battery (or parts of it) has/have been used on various groups of participants (Bangma et al., 2017, 2019; Bangma, Tucha, Fuermaier, et al., 2020) with the aim of gathering information on it and developing it so that it can eventually be used in clinical practice. This article focuses specifically on describing the test battery and the initial results of a study that used it on patients with neurodegenerative disorders, namely Alzheimer’s disease (AD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Parkinson’s disease (PD). The aim of the study is to assess to what extent and in what way those neurodegenerative diseases affect the capability to make financial decisions. The Financial Decision-Making (FDM) test battery The test battery compiled and developed to assess the capability to make financial decisions comprises seven different tests (Bangma et al., 2017). 1. The aim of the Dutch version of the Financial Competence Assessment Inventory (FCAI) is to measure the subject’s strengths and weaknesses regarding financial judgment and financial knowledge. It comprises six different subscales: ‘everyday financial abilities (e.g., ability to understand information on an invoice); ‘financial judgment’ (e.g., identifying and understanding information on a bank statement); ‘financial management’ (e.g., understanding banking protocols); ‘financial cognitive functioning’ (e.g., making a funds transfer); ‘debt management’ (e.g. having an overview of one’s personal debts); and ‘financial support resources’ (e.g., knowing who or what can provide support with financial problems). 2. The Financial Decision-Making Interview (FDMI) is a semi-structured interview that focuses on financial judgment. Two case studies are presented at the interview, each setting out a hypothetical financial problem. The questions evaluate the five financial judgment skills: ‘identification’, ‘understanding’, ‘appreciation’, ‘reasoning’ and ‘communication'.