Seeking to gain a deeper understanding of how to most effectively support those impacted by problem gambling, GambleAware has commissioned the University of Bristol’s Personal Finance Research Centre to produce a practical guide for financial services firms.
With the guide due to be published early in 2021, the work is the second phase of a collaboration that aims to help those working within financial services to keep people safe from gambling harms.
The practical guide is being designed for use by financial services firms generally, but with a particular focus on lenders and debt advisers. It will explore good practice as well as identify new tools and resources that could be implemented where there are gaps in existing provision.
Working closely with experts who have experience within the sector, the PFRC team will develop the new guide, whilst also gathering evidence from financial firms that provide training and support around gambling harm to the financial services sector. The guide is due to be published in early 2021.
It comes after the industry charity published the findings of research it commissioned to better understand how the voices of those with lived experience can be used to contribute to the wider debate about gambling harms.
The research underlined the importance of first-hand experience and ensuring that an extensive number of voices are heard as part of the effort to combat problem gambling and support those most at risk.
Commenting on the research and its recommendations, Caroline Norrie, Research Fellow at the Health and Social Care Workforce Unit (HSCWRU) at the Policy Institute at King’s College London said: “Our research identified a number of recommendations that organisations across the gambling industry could adopt to help strengthen and improve engagement with those who have first-hand experience of gambling harm.
“We were also able to identify a clear set of requirements for any future forum or network to ensure participants had the right platform to share their experiences, discuss and engage in key policy and priority setting conversations. I look forward to seeing how these recommendations are taken forward across the industry.”
Marc Etches, CEO of GambleAware also commented: “GambleAware commissioned this research to better understand what engagement methods work best in order to successfully draw on the knowledge and expertise of those who have experienced gambling harms.
“While the research suggests there is already some engagement with these groups, the report has highlighted a clear lack of reporting of such conversations. The findings have shown how important it is to capture the diverse range of views available to help improve and strengthen existing research, education and treatment and prevention initiatives while making clear that any new representative network of people from the lived experience community would need to be entirely independent.”
