During  weeks 7-8, students will collaborate on a project to create a set of resources and materials designed to help elderly individuals stay informed and aware of potential attempts to defraud them either in-person, online, or through other forms of media. If we do this properly and well, cite sources, and pull together the most useful information, it should be a resource any of you could share in your own communities (we can talk about strategies for that).

Students will work in one of five small groups (sign-up sheet–use your EOU account). Each group’s efforts will be focused on some subset of the problem, whether research documenting how the elderly are more vulnerable to these scams (or the financial costs of elder fraud), the kinds of fraud/scams perpetrated and how/why they are successful, the local ‘social capital’ in your communities that can help you distribute resources, the strategies for communicating these scams to those who need to know, actual examples of fraud and suspected fraud (e.g., reverse mortgage companies may be legitimate, but that’s for others to decide like the BBB), creating actual media to be disseminated and distributed.

There will be a Google Document where you can sign up. There are five areas, so it will be first come first serve, and there are maximum group sizes. 

The assignment will involve participating with a group in one of five areas:

1. research on fraud, the elderly, and the unique nature of their vulnerabilities to propaganda and persuasion attempts;
2. compilation of resources available from other sources/agencies;
3. Identification of specific strategies and techniques used, across media platforms;
4. Research on media consumption by older individuals, and a collection of reports from credible sources;
5. Strategies for communicating information—what are the most effective ways to reach the population and those involved in their care?

What you’ll need to do in your individual reports:

• Describe how the members of your group chose to divide labor (e.g., so as not to duplicate effort, miss important elements, ensure the work was completed). This part can be shared among group members (although that’s not a requirement—each member can write up their own).
• Focus specifically on your own role in the group, and how your group interacted to share information, avoid duplication, etc. 
• Document the hours you spent (4-5 hours), and what that time and effort yielded, in some detail. As we will be using the discussion threads during weeks 7 and 8, you will also want to discuss how that contributed to your group’s work, and the overall efforts of the class.
• Write up your findings—this should be at least 3-4 pages if you’ve included the components above. Use headings, please.
• Concluding remarks–here is where you can, if you choose, put together other ideas you’ve gleaned from the other groups, and from the discussion threads.

50 points possible—submit individual write-ups in Canvas by midnight, August 21^st