(PS5-3) Designing Financial Technologies to Support Individuals with Serious Mental Illnesses

Research has shown that the relationship between money and mental health is complex and cyclical. Financial troubles can negatively impact mental health which can further affect one’s financial standing (Richardson, 2017; 2019). However, much of this knowledge has relied on self-report. Open banking data provides new opportunities to understand these effects through objective data sources. In the case of bipolar disorder (BD), impulsivity of manic mood episodes can manifest as key financial behaviors, such as bursts of financial activity. Our initial work comparing financial records with mood logs shows promise for detecting mood episodes from key financial patterns (Blair, 2022). Despite this, little is yet known about user acceptance of this data use, their privacy concerns, and how this data-driven approach would best support long-term financial stability.

To this end, our body of work draws on large-scale surveys (N=1000) and interviews, resulting in the development of a financial intervention prototype for this population. We deployed two surveys to gather insight on current financial practices and gauge the privacy boundaries for using financial data for BD management and sharing this data within their support networks. We also interviewed care partners to gather perspectives of other system stakeholders. Based on these needs and preferences, we developed a digital intervention prototype to promote financial stability. 

Overall, participants were open to using their financial data to support decision-making and manage BD. Participants were most comfortable sharing their financial insights with clinicians, but had varying attitudes towards sharing with care partners, depending on demographic differences (Brozena, 2024). This work also sheds light on key ethical considerations for future intervention design, such as managing user agency against financial risk, supporting shared decision-making, and safeguarding against financial exploitation. Finally, we will highlight our financial prototype app based on these first-hand insights, present data from participants with BD and illustrate additional intervention strategies driven by financial data sources.