New report on the public health approach to gambling-related harm and exploring area-based vulnerability in Wales

A joint report published by a team led by Prof Robert Rogers, Bangor University, with colleagues from Public Health Wales, Heather Wardle Research Ltd and Prof Simon Dymond, Swansea University, highlights the widespread harms that gambling can cause, not only for those who gamble, but also for families, friends and communities.

Gambling is increasingly being recognised as a public health priority. The new work consists of two reports, one entitled, Gambling as a public health issue in Wales and another entitled, Framing a public health approach to gambling harms in Wales: Challenges and opportunities, which is a longer and more detailed analysis of gambling in Wales, salient aspects of the current policy debate around gambling (machines, advertising and technology), the nature of gambling harms, public health approaches to gambling, harm-minimisation and a discussion of the policy repertoire for Great Britain and Wales. Bangor University has also created an interactive risk-index map to accompany the report.

The team commissioned Geofutures Ltd to develop a gambling harm risk-index map for Wales. The map shows how social, health and economic risk factors for gambling harms are likely distributed across Wales. It does not show where gambling problems occur. Geo-spatial mapping of this kind illustrates only an estimated probabilistic risk of gambling problems among the population based upon the strength of associations reported in the literature. The map indicates where in Wales there are greater numbers of people who are potentially vulnerable to experiencing gambling harms.

View the risk-maps and explore different areas of Wales here.