GambleAware is awarding £250,000 ($335,000 USD) to help research the impact of problem gambling on the lives of women. The 18-month study will not only examine female problem gamblers, but will also be looking at the ripple effect of trauma their habits cause.
The research study will be conducted by academics at the University of Bristol and GamCare Women’s Programme. Researchers will be led by Kelsey Beninger, Director at IFF Social Research Agency in collaboration with Maria Fannin, Professor of Human Geography and Sharon Collard, Professor of Personal Finance at the University of Bristol, and Dominique Webb, Head of Programmes and Marina Smith Women’s Programme at GamCare.
Resarch will be conducted using what GambleAware refers to as “a mixed-methods, multidisciplinary and multi-sector approach. This means they’ll be deploying a number of different research methods including focus groups and individual interviews. Throughout the study, a special effort will be made to include a diverse set of research subjects.
By the end of the study, researchers are hoping to meet several stated goals including:
- Explore the reality and lived experiences of women and their engagement with and experience of gambling, gambling harms, and gambling treatment and support services.
- Establish and explore the drivers of gambling harms amongst women in Great Britain.
- Explore the services, interventions, and policies needed to reduce and prevent gambling harms for women.
In a recent GambleAware press release, Alison Clare, Research Director at GambleAware described the project saying, “Women’s experiences of gambling harms are under-researched, often presented as homogenous and in terms of how they differ to men’s experiences. We are pleased to have awarded this grant to this strong multi-agency, multi-disciplinary team which will be drilling down into the experiences and needs of different communities of women. This is an important step towards ensuring GambleAware and others are commissioning the range of treatment and support services women want and will use.”
GambleAware is a private charity and is not affiliated with UK Government.