NATIONAL COUNCIL ON PROBLEM GAMBLING JULY 2018

NCPG PREVENTION COMMITTEE - SPECIAL POPULATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE - INTRODUCTION

The Special Populations Subcommittee of the NCPG Prevention Committee was established at
the NCPG 2017 National Conference during the Learning Community Meeting. The Special
Populations Subcommittee is a merging of two previous subcommittees from the 2016-2017 2017-2018
term: the Youth Committee and the Curriculum/Program Repository Committee. Although each SPECIAL
of these committees were successful in their own right, it was felt that the future goals of these POPULATION FOCUS:
two committees could be better served by joining forces as one new committee for 2017-2018.

The first telephone meeting of the Special Populations subcommittee showed a committee  YOUTH
membership numbering over 30 participants. Two general membership meetings were held on
October 25, 2017 and December 13, 2017 for the purposes of setting goals, objectives and to
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COLLEGE AGE
focus on “What Populations” might benefit from our combined prevention expertise. The

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breadth of gambling prevention expertise that was represented in the committee was vast. Age
groups served by committee members included: Youth, College-Age, Adults and Seniors,  ASIAN AMERICAN

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ranging in age from 10 to 100 years old. The expertise with cultural groups included: Immigrant

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Populations in general, and specifically for Asian, Native American, Hawaiian, and Hispanic

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populations in the US. There was also expertise dealing with adults with problems in Mental
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Health. Needless to say, there was a moment when the task of narrowing committee focus
seemed overwhelming. But, as gambling prevention specialists, we do not shy away from a A tremendous thank you
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challenge! We discussed many options and what we could reasonably do as volunteers with a needs to be given to:
limited amount of time before the NCPG 2018 Conference. We finally agreed to keep it simple
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 Jaime Costello, the

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and focus on just three special populations for the first year.
point of contact for
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The three Special Populations that were decided upon for the 2017-2018 undertaking were: responses pertaining to
Youth, College Age and Asian populations. We recognized by limiting our work to these three
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Youth
populations we would not be including everyone’s interest or expertise so that consistent
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participation from those not represented this year was not expected. Our hope for the future is
 Michael Buzzelli, the
that the subcommittee will continue so that each year, (3) new populations will be identified and
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point of contact for

over time, everyone who joined the subcommittee will have their special population highlighted
and explored. responses about
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College Age
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A questionnaire was developed to find out more about the successes and failures our experts populations, and
have had with reaching the three selected populations. A tremendous thank you needs to be
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given to: Jaime Costello, the point of contact for responses pertaining to Youth, Michael  Tiffany Tran, as the
Buzzelli, the point of contact for responses about College Age populations, and Tiffany Tran, as point of contact for
the point of contact for responses about Asian populations in the US. Our gathering of responses about Asian
information on how best to approach these three populations was certainly not comprehensive
populations in the US.
or representative of all that is happening in the field. It is meant to be a starting point on which
additional information can and will be added as the result of the more widespread distribution of
The pages to follow are
our document getting into the hands of those who are plowing the gambling prevention fields.
meant to be a starting point
Gambling Prevention continues to be challenged every day by government and local decision on which additional
makers, who may seek to understand - or chose to ignore - the impact of gambling on all information can and will be
citizens and all populations. We seek to educate the best we can with all who will listen. added as the result of the
more widespread
I know that both Judy and I feel a great debt of gratitude for having the privilege of working with
distribution of this
so many incredibly talented and dedicated colleagues. We hope that this document provided by
document getting into the
the Special Populations Subcommittee will provide some helpful knowledge and recognition that
we are all on this journey together. hands of those who are
plowing the gambling
Carl Robertson and Judy McCormick, prevention fields.

Special Populations Subcommittee Co-Chairs

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NATIONAL COUNCIL ON PROBLEM GAMBLING JULY 2018

NCPG PREVENTION COMMITTEE - SPECIAL POPULATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE - COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES

Reaching the College/University Population GOAL

Did you know that youth rates for being at-risk for problem gambling are 2 to 3
The goal for the Special
times higher than adult rates? Researchers estimate that 75% of college students Populations Sub-
gambled during the past year and that 6% have a serious gambling problem.1 committee was to survey
Furthermore, it is important to note with the Supreme Court overturning the federal professionals in the field
with expertise in working
ban on sports gambling that currently 30% of male student-athletes bet on sports
with three specific
and approximately 1 in 20 will bet on games they are directly involved in. 2 College populations who are
years are associated with a wide range of risky behaviors, however, it seems that at-risk for problem

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problem gambling is not often discussed in conjunction with these behaviors. Due gambling. The special

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populations selected for
to expansion of different gambling forms increasing availability and accessibility,
investigation in 2017-

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along with college students having access to cash and credit cards, this population 2018 were Youth, Asian
is at increasing risk to develop problems with gambling. While some professionals and College-aged

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in the field have had success bringing problem gambling awareness to campuses populations. This

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document reports
through universal education or educating more selected groups such as first-year
om specific strategies used
students, Greek Life, athletes and other student leaders, many professionals have to create successful
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encountered challenges in creating these partnerships. Our goal for this pamphlet partnerships and
is to provide a brief overview of successful strategies implemented by programming on college
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and university
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professionals around the country who have expertise in working with college and
campuses.
university populations.
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1
University of North Carolina—Wilmington
2
Reggie Robinson, Health Recovery Services
Survey Results
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Approach:
Please briefly describe how you got your “Foot in the Door.” What They Said
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 Combine problem gambling awareness with other perceived campus issues

i.e. alcohol and other drugs, sexual violence, financial wellness, etc...
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 Contact and collaborate with campus influencers such as athletes, Greek Life,
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Student Government, Resident Advisors, etc...

 Be data driven, show the need for this type of programming. “…respecting the
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 Use a peer education model. Train student leaders to present information to participant’s autonomy
their cohorts i.e. their athletic team, fraternity/sorority, campus dorm, clubs or
related classes (social work, public health). helps communicate
Successful Strategy: effectively with young
Please describe the specific successful strategy you used to develop a working
relationship with this population. adults.”
 Use focus groups. Find out what the students already know, what they want to
know and what they view as effective and interesting programming.  Ty W. Lostutter, Ph.D.
 Must discuss more than just problem gambling—how does problem gambling
contribute to or exacerbate other issues?
 What are campus goals and values—the program must support these.
“Having professional
Facing Barriers: and personal
What sort of challenges did you encounter in working with this population?
 Problem gambling not perceived as an issue on campus. connections on
 There are more important issues to address.
 No Time. No Faculty Support. campus 100% helped.”
 Term “Problem Gambling” may hold bias and stigma.
 Allison Gall
Survey Results cont... “The preconceived
Overcoming Challenges:
Please share any tips, angles or incentives you used to successfully overcome the mindset that gambling
barriers or challenges you encountered. problems are not prevalent
 Be Persistent!
 Have data specific to this population. for this age group
 Monetary incentives are helpful for data collection.
 Make certain to relay this will not take extra time; information can be combined presented a barrier.”
with currently existing programming or events.
 Try to have a continued presence on campus - not simply a one-off program.  Elizabeth Healey
Attend fairs and other campus events. Be Present!
 Use a different moniker: instead of describing the program as “Problem
Gambling Prevention” try something like “Positive Decision Making” or “Keep thinking outside the
“Financial Wellness”
box and look to targeted
Meeting Needs:
What specific needs of this population did you attempt to address with your efforts? populations.”
 Gambling Disorder is an addiction similar to that of substances.  Lisa Stofko
 Appropriately discuss all types of potential consequences from gambling
addiction including problems with academics, employment, finances,

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relationships, reputation and physical and mental health.
 It is imperative to incorporate the use of technology and the internet among this “Collect and share local

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population.
data specific to these age

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One Key: ranges to present to the

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What is the one key thing you feel others need to remember when setting out to
work with this population? decision makers…”

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 Utilize pre-existing relationships.
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Respect their desire for a peer-model. The message has more weight coming  Amy Black-Stockham
from a peer. Utilize student personal stories if acceptable.
 Be Flexible! Working with college/university students may mean hosting
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programs during the evening or on weekends.
 Think outside the box. Be Creative!
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 You must truly understand addiction if you are going to discuss it. This
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population may know more about the topic than you first perceive—they will be CONTACTS:
curious and they will ask questions.
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For more information on

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survey results or to
Programs Surveyed
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inquire about a specific

program or strategy
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Ohio used, please contact:

Michael Buzzelli: Catalyst Bystander Program & Greek Consultation Program
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Michael Buzzelli
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Pennsylvania (216) 431-4131 x2612

Allison Gall : Butler County Human Services Drug and Alcohol mbuzzelli@recres.org
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Amy Black-Stockham : Keystone Wellness Programs THANK YOU TO OUR

SUB-COMMITTEE
Elizabeth Healey: Lackawanna Services Office of Drug and Alcohol Programs CHAIRS:
Carl Robertson
Lisa Stofko: The Learning Lamp (667) 214-2120
Croberts@som.umaryland.edu
Washington
Ty W. Lostutter, Ph.D.: Center for the Study of Health & Risk Behavior
Judy McCormick
(302) 655-3261
Seadog@dcgp.org

NCPG PREVENTION COMMITTEE - SPECIAL POPULATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE - COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES

NATIONAL COUNCIL ON PROBLEM GAMBLING JULY 2018

NCPG PREVENTION COMMITTEE - SPECIAL POPULATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE - ASIAN POPULATION

Reaching the Asian Population GOAL

The goal for the Special
Here are some points to consider when approaching Asian-American Populations Sub-
committee was to survey
populations:
professionals in the field
 “Social gambling” is an integral part of the entertainment that occurs with expertise in working
during many Asian countries’ festive periods (e.g., Chinese New Year) with three specific
populations who are
and special events such as birthdays and weddings (Oei and Raylu at-risk for problem

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2010). gambling. The special

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 Two studies from Korea have found higher rates of relationship populations selected for
investigation in 2017-

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breakdowns, separation and divorce among populations of problem 2018 were Youth, Asian-
and pathological gamblers. For instance, Park et al. (2010) reported on American and College-

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aged populations. This

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a sample of 5,333 South Korean residents, 43 of whom were
document reports
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pathological gamblers. The authors found that pathological gamblers specific strategies used
were around three times more likely to be separated/divorced or to create successful
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partnerships and
widowed, and were 2.8 times more likely to suffer from a psychiatric programming for Asian-
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disorder. American populations.

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 Liao (2008) reported on a sample of 31 Chinese community members

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in San Francisco, and found that partners of problem gamblers were

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27.5 times more likely to experience intimate partner violence than

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those whose partners were not problem gamblers.

What They Said
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Survey Results
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Approach:
Please briefly describe how you got your “Foot in the Door.”
“In my opinion, most
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people who get into

 Offer workshops on becoming wealthier and finance – it grabs the
gambling have a very
attention of attendees.
 Storytelling different mindset. They
 Foster relationships with communities with high Asian populations and are more prone to look
offer to support the services they have for this population. for quick money and
 Train volunteers from Asian communities to serve as “Ambassadors” hope to get rich quickly
 Conduct outreach and ask to be involved in organizational staff rather than just working
meetings to speak briefly on behalf of problem gambling services and a stable job. They don’t
provide facts on how it affects this population. see there is anything
 Collect information on community events, attend, and find out how to wrong with such a
get involved in volunteering with these events.
mentality. “

 Mei Hung
Survey Results cont... Problem gambling
prevalence across
Successful Strategy: countries: 5.6% in
Please describe the specific successful strategy you used to develop a
working relationship with this population. Hong Kong, 6% in
Macau, and 3.8% in
 Offer to provide free materials and workshops on overall wellness and
success tying in the concept of problem gambling as it relates to Singapore compared
wellness. to international
 Partner with local community centers that are receptive to supporting average of 2.3%
health services.
 Williams et al.
 Collaborate with Asian youth groups to lead and inspire youth to be
advocates for their community. 2012
 Identify vulnerable areas that cater to regular casino goers and ask to
partner with local shuttle busses to provide free information on Patriarchal family
gambling.
Utilize co-facilitation opportunities for problem gambling workshops to systems, such as

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
explain how problem gambling impacts the Asian population, and those valued in most

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encourage Asian clinicians to get their certification in problem gambling Asian cultures, are
to assist those in their community impacted.

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more likely to have a
stronger modeling-

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 Offer stipend to volunteer “Ambassadors” to pay for their training, the
meetings they participate in and the community conversations they

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impact of parental
facilitate om gambling. For
Facing Barriers: example, children are
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What sort of challenges did you encounter in working with this population? more likely to gamble
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 Shame, stigma, culture if the head of their

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 The following approaches did not work well: family (the father)
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 Cold calling to offer problem gambling material and workshops gambles, because
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 Only offering workshops on problem gambling, but not discussing their culture requires
other cultural barriers and health conflicts this community faces
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them to respect and

 When hosting tables, only talking about problem gambling, but not
obey him.
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on other health topics and how they relate.

 Raylu and Oei
Overcoming Challenges:
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2004
Please share any tips, angles or incentives you used to successfully
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overcome the barriers or challenges you encountered.

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 Focus on building trusting relationships with partners and then find ways
on how you can support their services. Eventually, this will open “A big barrier is the culture
opportunities on presenting information on problem gambling. itself, that an addiction or
 Identify needs of this community that aren’t limited to gambling, explore
their interests, and find ways to incorporate this material into problem problem brings shame on
gambling presentations and workshops. the family and seeking
 Perhaps provide food, gift certificates, prizes or cash prizes to attract help is not often accepta-
them to come or to pay interest in what you must offer
ble. Also, the language
 Use the movie “Paulina” to engage participants and focus discussion barrier.

 Susan McLaughlin

NCPG PREVENTION COMMITTEE - SPECIAL POPULATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE - ASIAN POPULATION

Survey Results cont...
Meeting Needs:
What specific needs of this population did you attempt to address with your “Understand what
efforts?
are other problems
 Limited materials available in multiple languages – offered to send out they may have and
materials available by the Council in Vietnamese and Chinese.
 Lack of Asian clinicians for problem gambling – networked with previous
reach out to them
contacts with the Council and created new partnerships through co- from a different
facilitation in problem gambling workshops to encourage applications to angle. In that way,
MAPGS.
 Limited knowledge to the Asian youth community on problem gambling they may feel more
and financial literacy – collaborated with BCNC and Viet AID to offer comfortable and
workshops on financial literacy, problem gambling in the Asian open to share what
Community, Wellness, and Problem Gambling in Youth populations.
challenges they

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One Key: have at home or at

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What is the one key thing you feel others need to remember when setting work, etc.”
out to work with this population?

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 Mei Hung

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 There are many factors that put Asians at risk for developing a gambling

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addiction, but culture is one of the bigger ones. Make a cultural
connection and use storytelling to help audiences relate to the issue.
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 Offering workshops on problem gambling alone will not work – offer
workshops on other health topics incorporating the topic of problem
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gambling.
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 To have successful collaboration, you must first work on partnership

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establishment and offer to support their services first. Eventually, this CONTACTS:
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will open doors for presenting information on problem gambling.

For more information on
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 There must be respect...bringing up issues of concern is not easy for survey results or to
this group
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inquire about a specific

program or strategy
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used, please contact:

Programs Surveyed
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Connecticut Tiffany Tran

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(617) 426-4554
Tiffany.Tran@
Susan D. McLaughlin: Asian American and Pacific Islander
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masscompulsivegambling.org
Ambassador Program
THANK YOU TO OUR
SUB-COMMITTEE
Massachusetts CHAIRS:
Carl Robertson
Mei Hung: East Meets West Culture Dialogue (667) 214-2120
Croberts@som.umaryland.edu

Tiffany Tran: Wellness & Gambling in the Asian Community Judy McCormick
(302) 655-3261
Seadog@dcgp.org

NCPG PREVENTION COMMITTEE - SPECIAL POPULATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE - ASIAN POPULATION

National Council on Problem

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Gambling Prevention Committee

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Welcome to the new and improved official website of theom
National Council on Problem Gambling Prevention
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Committee!
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Statement of Purpose
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The purpose of the Prevention Committee of the National Council on Problem Gambling is to advocate
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for the inclusion of effective prevention services as part of the full continuum of care of problem
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gambling services through advocacy, awareness, education, and capacity building. Our principles
regarding the prevention of gambling disorders are outlined in “Prevention of Gambling Disorders: A
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Common Understanding,” which follows this document.

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Our current goals are: 1) to strengthen the problem gambling prevention community through
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recruitment, more effective communication and enhanced resource sharing, and 2) to advocate for, and
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support, the development and sustainability of infusing evidence-based prevention programs and models
into alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) prevention and counseling programs.
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