One of the most difficult situations a financial services professional can face is when a senior begins to show signs of possible cognitive difficulty or impairment, but is still legally competent to make decisions – or when family members question a senior’s behavior and decisions, and want the professional to become involved. What are the proper ethical actions for the professional who wants to ensure the senior’s best interests are protected and served?

This course will help professionals recognize the major obstacles to ethical decision making – common rationalizations, frequent errors in critical thinking, mental traps -- and the importance of emotional intelligence. In addition, this course provides a tool for assessing the ethical quality of decisions – the Six Pillars of Character, and an eight-step model for making ethical and effective decisions.

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

• assess your comfort level and understanding of ethical dilemmas
• list and examine basic ethical principles
• correctly and ethically respond to situations involving questions of the senior client’s cognitive capacity
• follow a logical and thorough eight-step process for making ethical and effective decisions