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Gordon Moody are working with Bournemouth University, Red Card Gambling Support, and Early Knights on a research project looking at why women from ethnic minority groups don’t seek help for gambling-related harm.

Research aims

Whilst women from black and ethnic minority communities are more likely to experience gambling-related harm than white women, they are  under-represented in gambling-related harm treatment services. The project was conducted to identify barriers to accessing treatment in women from black and ethnic minority communities (Strand One); and investigate ways to increase knowledge of help and treatment available for gambling-related harms (Strand Two).

Activities and findings

Strand One – co-design study:

Women from ethnic minority communities (nine Black and one Asian, with ages ranging from 25-54 years), who had received treatment for gambling-related harm, discussed their experiences of seeking support, barriers they experienced accessing treatment, what encouraged them to come forward, and their experiences of treatment.

We identified several barriers and facilitators to accessing treatment for gambling-related harm. Participants began seeking support when things became out of control – the point that they felt consumed by their addiction, experiencing negative emotions, and financial difficulties. Negative emotions triggered overwhelming reflections, which delayed their help-seeking behaviours. Participants were from close knit communities that they were concerned might stigmatise gambling and they experienced embarrassment and fear, which led to delays in seeking help.

However, when they revealed their gambling to their social support networks, an understanding social environment facilitated them to seek support. When participants were ready to seek support, they were unaware of where to seek it from, as were organisations to which they were already connected, for example, universities.

Participants felt advertising via social media would enable gambling support services to reach a wider audience, and that content promoting these services should be inclusive to individuals of different demographics. Treatment was facilitated by caring service providers, with empathy, commitment, and genuine concern for the service user, as well as the opportunity to connect with other people who gamble and access to a variety of treatments that could be tailored to the user’s needs. Aftercare following initial treatment was also considered important.

Strand Two – family fun days:

We held two family fun days to raise awareness of gambling-related harm amongst women from black and ethnic minority communities. The events were held in Walsall and Sandwell and included rounders games facilitated by Rounders England. Participants were provided with branded t-shirts from the organisations taking part in the event.

Gordon Moody colleagues attended the family days to provide information about our services. A buffet was provided and Red Card Gambling Support delivered an interactive session on gambling-related harm.

Evaluation forms were completed by seven attendees and revealed that they had all improved their knowledge of gambling and gambling-related harm from the event.

Potential impacts

Strand one findings will feed through to the Gordon Moody Commercial Team to inform on changes to our website and advertising strategy, and to our Clinical Team to inform on changes to the treatment programme.

The findings will help us to innovate and adapt to the changing needs of our service users and reach more people every day to help them reclaim and rebuild their lives free from gambling-related harm.

GORDON MOODY ARE THE UK’S LEADING CHARITY DEDICATED TO PROVIDING SUPPORT AND TREATMENT FOR GAMBLING-RELATED HARMS. WE HELP PEOPLE RECLAIM AND REBUILD THEIR LIVES THROUGH RECOVERY IN A SAFE, SUPPORTED ENVIRONMENT.

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