SJP to roll out virtual reality to help advisers with vulnerable clients

The first in the series is a 360-degrees film, showcasing an older man who is in the early stages of cognitive decline following bereavement.

It was shown to attendees at the TechLink Life conference in London today (July 5) and designed to get advisers thinking about what it means to recognise, understand and help clients who are vulnerable.

Joshua Ellick, immersive technology manager for SJP, said the film experience was "quite emotional", and had been developed after discussion with many advisers and organisations who have experience of working with people in cognitive decline. 

He said: "It comes with a trigger warning at the beginning because it does speak to very real situations that advisers can find their clients in."

The provision of long-term products, and the support that surrounds them, will merit increased focus.FCA report on cognitive decline

The next stage of the development is to roll out a role-playing VR exercise in September, where the adviser can choose their own avatar and interact with the client in cognitive decline, to help them understand how to help people who are experiencing such vulnerabilities. 

Ellick, who advises the business on immersive technology, and provides training and support to stakeholders in adopting immersive technology, said the company was also developing further VR scenarios, such as on the subject of financial abuse. 

In the Financial Conduct Authority's 95-page report, The Ageing Population: Ageing Mind Literature Review, the authors found three key things to consider when it comes to gradual cognitive decline.

These were: 

• Normal cognitive ageing is unlikely to interfere with routine daily tasks but it should not be ignored.
• The decline in fluid cognitive abilities, which is associated with the normal ageing process, can be a greater obstacle when tasks are complex or unfamiliar.
• The steeper rate of cognitive decline, common among people in their 80s, can mean the oldest old are likely to be yet more challenged by novel or complex situations, with changes to environment or context, such as changes to a website, potentially making a situation feel novel or complex.

The research, which was carried out in 2017, said: "There is a gradual improvement and then decline in financial decision-making performance over the course of a lifetime.

"The point at which performance peaks tends to be around the mid-50s. This trend is consistent with the age-related changes in crystallised and fluid cognitive abilities.

"Crystallised cognitive abilities tend to plateau from the mid-50s onwards, whereas fluid abilities show a decline."

Therefore, both providers and advisers need to consider not just what they provide in terms of products and services, but also how they provide these and information and guidance around these processes. 

The report added: "As a result of changes like pensions freedom, together with changing state retirement age, older people will be expected to interact with potentially new and more complex financial issues more frequently and longer into their older age.

"Consequently, the provision of long-term products, and the support that surrounds them, will merit increased focus.

"There is further work to be done by providers of long-term financial products, who will need to consider the implications of this changing landscape and how they address it to ensure good customer outcomes."

simoney.kyriakou@ft.com