Making harms matter: translating research on gambling-related harms into practice

Session Title

Session 1-1-C: Making Harms Matter

Presenters

Heather Wardle, London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineFollow
Tim Miller, Gambling CommissionFollow

Presentation Type

Event

Location

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

Start Date

28-5-2019 9:15 AM

End Date

28-5-2019 10:40 AM

Disciplines

Public Policy

Abstract

Abstract: There has been increasing calls to better understand the range of harms associated with gambling, including how to define, measure and understand the costs associated with gambling harms. This is pivotal to understanding gambling from a public health perspective but also for effecting policy change within environments where the harms from gambling are, arguably, underestimated. Achieving this requires close co-operation between researchers, policy makers and a range of stakeholders. This process is currently being undertaken in Great Britain and this paper draws on the experiences of the two presenters, as researcher and commissioner/consumer of research, to explore this intersection. From each perspective, they will identify the key lessons to be learnt when attempting to achieve impact with research and make it useful to a range of different audiences. This includes undertaking detailed stakeholder mapping, developing influencing strategies, co-production of research, effective communication and more. They will detail what worked and what didn’t and the pitfalls of knowledge translation using their experience of attempting to change debate and knowledge about the range of harms associated with gambling.

Implications: This paper examines an oft-ignored aspect of research – what happens when the research is done and how does this translate into action. As part of a proposed series of papers exploring this (with Rachel Volberg), it is unique in presenting the dual perspective of the researcher and policy maker together.

Keywords

Gambling-related harms, policy, practice, knowledge translation

Author Bios

Heather Wardle is an Assistant Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Humanities and Social Sciences Research Fellow funded by Wellcome. She is also Deputy Chair of the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board, an independent group who provides advice to Government on gambling policy.

Tim Miller is Executive Director of the Gambling Commission in Britain. He has responsibility for the Commission’s work on safer gambling and harm prevention. Tim has nearly 20 years of experience working in a range of regulatory environments covering both the public and private sectors.

Funding Sources

This is based on work that was co-funded by the Gambling Commission (the British Regulator) and GambleAware, an independent charity charged by government to fund research into gambling. Decisions about what research to fund and the research questions are set by the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board who are independent advisors to the Gambling Commission, though funding for research is raised through donations from industry. GambleAware had no influence over the research questions, design or outputs.

Competing Interests

Heather is funded by a fellowship from Wellcome. She runs a research consultancy to provide research services to public and third sectors bodies. She does not provide consultancy or research services to the gambling industry. In her previous employment, Heather worked on unrelated contracts for GambleAware. None of these interests have any relationship to the work submitted here. Tim Miller is employed the Gambling Commission and has no other interests to declare.