Interviews, chart review, and clinician report) caused ambiguity–Two capability determinations were ambiguous due to discrepancies between information collected from participant interviews, chart review, and clinician report. In both examples, the participants described themselves as more capable than was indicated in data from patient charts or from treating clinicians.Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptDiscussionDetermining financial capability is complicated. One reason capability is difficult to judge is that managing a limited income, with or without a disabling illness, is very difficult. The challenges disabled people face–poverty, substance use (21), gambling (22), crime, financial dysfunction, psychiatric symptomatology (23) and financial predation (6) — contribute to their financial difficulties. Most beneficiaries and, in fact, most people do not spend all of their funds on basic needs. A Bureau of Labor Statistics report found that Americans in the lowest, middle, and highest income quintiles spend 7?0 of their income on nonessential items and that those in the lowest quintile spend a greater percentage of their money than those in the highest quintile on basic necessities such as housing, food, utilities, fuels and public services, healthcare, and medications (24, 25).Emerging literature suggests that because of the stresses of poverty, it is particularly difficult for someone who is poor to exert the planning, self-control and attention BMS-214662 clinical trials needed to resist unnecessary purchases (26). Second, determinations of the amount of nonessential or harmful spending and the circumstances around such spending that would merit payee assignment is a subjective judgment with few guidelines. The Social Security Administration guidelines about how representative payees must use a beneficiary’s monthly benefits allow for some nonessential purchases (i.e. clothing and recreation), but only after food and shelter are provided for (27). This paper highlights areas requiring special deliberation. Clinicians assessing financial capability need to consider the extent of the harm spending patterns have on the individual being assessed (i.e. misspending that results in a few missed meals might cause minor discomfort but not measureable harm, whereas misspending that results in an inability to pay for rent may be very harmful). When looking at harmful spending, clinicians should discern whether the beneficiary has a financial problem or an addiction problem. If improved financial skills or payee assignment would not impact the acquisition of drugs of abuse, then the beneficiaries’ substance use probably does not reflect financial incapability. Another important issue that clinicians face when making determinations about beneficiaries’ ability to manage funds is attempting to predict BAY 11-7083MedChemExpress BAY 11-7085 future functioning, which is inherently uncertain. There is evidence that clinicians have difficulty predicting behaviors such as future medication adherence (28, 29), so some uncertainty in predicting financialPsychiatr Serv. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2016 March 01.Lazar et al.Pagecapability is to be expected. Frequent reevaluations of financial capability might help with complicated determinations. Extensive and serial evaluations of capability to manage one’s funds are probably beyond the mandate and the resources of the Social Security Administration, but re-evaluating the capability of beneficiaries who are admitted to.Interviews, chart review, and clinician report) caused ambiguity–Two capability determinations were ambiguous due to discrepancies between information collected from participant interviews, chart review, and clinician report. In both examples, the participants described themselves as more capable than was indicated in data from patient charts or from treating clinicians.Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptDiscussionDetermining financial capability is complicated. One reason capability is difficult to judge is that managing a limited income, with or without a disabling illness, is very difficult. The challenges disabled people face–poverty, substance use (21), gambling (22), crime, financial dysfunction, psychiatric symptomatology (23) and financial predation (6) — contribute to their financial difficulties. Most beneficiaries and, in fact, most people do not spend all of their funds on basic needs. A Bureau of Labor Statistics report found that Americans in the lowest, middle, and highest income quintiles spend 7?0 of their income on nonessential items and that those in the lowest quintile spend a greater percentage of their money than those in the highest quintile on basic necessities such as housing, food, utilities, fuels and public services, healthcare, and medications (24, 25).Emerging literature suggests that because of the stresses of poverty, it is particularly difficult for someone who is poor to exert the planning, self-control and attention needed to resist unnecessary purchases (26). Second, determinations of the amount of nonessential or harmful spending and the circumstances around such spending that would merit payee assignment is a subjective judgment with few guidelines. The Social Security Administration guidelines about how representative payees must use a beneficiary’s monthly benefits allow for some nonessential purchases (i.e. clothing and recreation), but only after food and shelter are provided for (27). This paper highlights areas requiring special deliberation. Clinicians assessing financial capability need to consider the extent of the harm spending patterns have on the individual being assessed (i.e. misspending that results in a few missed meals might cause minor discomfort but not measureable harm, whereas misspending that results in an inability to pay for rent may be very harmful). When looking at harmful spending, clinicians should discern whether the beneficiary has a financial problem or an addiction problem. If improved financial skills or payee assignment would not impact the acquisition of drugs of abuse, then the beneficiaries’ substance use probably does not reflect financial incapability. Another important issue that clinicians face when making determinations about beneficiaries’ ability to manage funds is attempting to predict future functioning, which is inherently uncertain. There is evidence that clinicians have difficulty predicting behaviors such as future medication adherence (28, 29), so some uncertainty in predicting financialPsychiatr Serv. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2016 March 01.Lazar et al.Pagecapability is to be expected. Frequent reevaluations of financial capability might help with complicated determinations. Extensive and serial evaluations of capability to manage one’s funds are probably beyond the mandate and the resources of the Social Security Administration, but re-evaluating the capability of beneficiaries who are admitted to.
