Caregivers are often financially impacted, through health care costs, long-term care costs, and decreased income. A financial literacy program, Managing Money: A Caregiver’s Guide to Finances, was developed to provide information on financial impacts in caregiving. The virtual program was delivered synchronously with a live presenter through an online platform and was rated with high acceptability. The virtual program was then shifted to an online format. Changes included removing the live presenter and group format in favor of a voiceover and self-paced movement, the addition of videos, and online resources. The asynchronous, self-paced online delivery of the program was evaluated through a survey of 146 caregivers. Participants had a mean age of 45.85 (SD=5.65); 55% female; 75% White; 46% cared for their grandparent and 45% to their parent. A Likert scale was utilized to indicate satisfaction with the program (1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly agree). Overall, participants indicated that the program provided important information on managing money (M=3.97, SD=.83); helped to understand the content (M=3.89, SD=.91); was easy to read and understand (M=3.99, SD=.90); and would recommend the program (M=3.91, SD=.84). The explanation of content areas were rated on a Likert scale (1=poor, 4=excellent); participants rated areas including having conversations about finances (M=3.05, SD=.80); avoiding financial fraud and abuse (M=2.98, SD=.81); covering care costs (M=2.98, SD=.81); and organizing legal plans (M=3.09, SD=.80). Participants reported no difficulties that needed to be resolved when moving through the program. Overall, both the virtual and online formats were acceptable and feasible to caregiving populations.

This poster presents acceptability data from the Kinto Care Coaching Intervention, an innovative technology-enabled care coaching service for caregivers of individuals with dementia. The 30-day program provides caregiver support and financial information through: 1) an initial one-on-one care coaching meeting; 2) interactive and on-going support and educational resources through an app; 3) access to support groups; and 4) if needed, additional meetings with their care coach. The solution is funded through the NIH’s Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) program, with the specific goals of developing mobile technology that is: 1) acceptable and usable for caregivers of all ages and 2) supports cost-effective deployment of the coaching intervention at scale. To assess program acceptability, participants completed a survey after their one-on-one care coaching meeting and after the 30-day program. On average, participants (n=32) were M=51.94 (SD=12.07) years old; 68.8% female; 71.9% White; 75% married; and 56.3% worked full-time. Using a 5-point Likert scale, nearly all participants (96.6%) indicated they ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that their care coach was: helpful in explaining the program; provided useful information; assisted with developing goals; and were supportive. Participants rated the program resources and technology as very helpful with mean ratings ranging from 4.41 to 4.69. When asked about the overall program acceptability, participants indicated they were extremely satisfied with the program (M=4.81; SD=.40), with 100% of participants ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that they were satisfied. Discussion will highlight key program components along with next steps in testing program efficacy.

Over 50 million informal caregivers provide care to an older adult age 50 or older. Negative financial impacts include significant out-of-pocket expenses, decreased income and future earnings. The program, Managing Money: A Caregiver’s Guide to Finances, was developed to address the lack of evidence-based programs and evaluated using a randomized control trial across 5 time points: Time 1 (baseline); Time 2 (after condition completion); Time 3 (30 days after Time 2); Time 4 (60 days after Time 2); and Time 5 (90 days after Time 2). The mean age of participants was 55.45 (SD=14.85); 80% female; 72% White and 69% married. Forty-six percent provided care to their parent/in-law, 36% to a spouse/partner, and 40% were employed full-time. Participants were randomly assigned to the program (N=76) or waitlist condition (N=98). No significant differences on demographic or care context variables were found between conditions. A 2 x 5 repeated measures analyses examined significant change across time based on condition. For significant outcomes, post-hoc analyses examined whether change was short-term (T2,T3); long-term (T4,T5); or both. Results found: 1) significant short- and long-term improvements for Unmet Needs (F(1,4)=8.34,p=.01); Self-efficacy (F(1,4)=4.27,p=.01); and Behavioral Intentions (F(1,4)=3.63,p=.01) and 2) significant long-term improvements for Unmet Needs Distress (F(1,4)=5.82,p=.01) and Behavioral Actions (F(1,4)=4.55,p=.01). Results indicated the program was efficacious in positively impacting key financial preparedness measures. Discussion highlights key study elements including program accessibility and scalability; generalizability of findings and limitations; and contextualizing results within the larger literature.