Strategy
National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms 2019 to 2022
The sole aim of this three-year (2019 to 2022) National Strategy was to move faster and go further to reduce gambling harms.
Prevention and education
In principle, prevention of harm is better than cure. The role of education therefore, as a key form of prevention, needs to be better understood.
This will provide the evidence to inform the development of a collective and clear prevention plan, as set out in the new National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms, which identifies the right mix of interventions to be applied at both the population and individual level.
This will need to consider approaches suitable for mainstream audiences, groups which are particularly vulnerable to harm, and children and young people.
We know that education is relatively effective at improving knowledge and changing attitudes, but evidence of behaviour change is inconclusive.
We need to understand what works in preventative education through insights provided by research and evaluation.
This will help us to develop a national strategic plan to make that preventative education is delivered in the most effective way.
Research projects
Understanding the impact of advertising on children, young people and vulnerable people
This project explored the content and tone of gambling marketing and advertising and its effect on behaviour and perceptions of children, young people, and vulnerable people.
It assesses whether there are specific characteristics of advertising that are particularly harmful to these groups. Improving our understanding in this area will help us explore whether changes to the way gambling products are advertised could prevent harm.
This has been completed by a consortium led by Ipsos Mori and the Institute for Social Marketing at the University of Stirling. The Interim Synthesis Report (PDF) was published in July 2019 which explored the exposure, tone and format of gambling related marketing and advertising.
The Final Synthesis Report (PDF) was published in March 2020 which adds further findings on the impact of gambling marketing and advertising on children, young people and vulnerable adults, and extends a set of recommendations for the gambling and advertising industries, regulators and further research.
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Treatment
Last updated: 27 September 2022
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Callout added to detail that the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms ran until April 2022.