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Position paper

Widening the net: A syndemic approach to responsible gambling

Published Online:January 04, 2019https://doi.org/10.1024/0939-5911/a000565

Abstract

Abstract.Background: Attempts to address gambling-related harms have evolved rubrics to foster responsible gambling and informed choice. Those efforts have largely focused on apportioning the relative responsibility placed on government, industry, and individuals for reducing excessive gambling that leads to adverse consequences. Empirical evaluations of responsible gambling measures, together with proposed frameworks that set out guidelines for accountability, have met with mixed results and criticism from divergent groups of stakeholders. Aim: While harm reduction remains a worthy goal, this position paper argues against maintaining a stringent focus on the government-industry-individual triumvirate in favor of adopting a syndemic approach to gambling-related harms. Approach: A syndemic perspective suggests that gambling disorder intersects, coexists, precedes or follows other comorbid conditions and interacts with social and environmental factors that promote and enhance the negative consequences of gambling problems. This paper discussions potential syndemic stakeholders and challenges in the implementation of this approach. Conclusions: Initiatives to reduce gambling-related harm should adopt a broader perspective, involving stakeholders from diverse syndemic problem areas in developing a network to identify and address gambling problems in early stages of development across multiple settings.


Das Hilfesystem muss erweitert werden: Ein systemischer Ansatz zur Unterstützung eines verantwortungsvollen Glücksspielens

Zusammenfassung.Hintergrund: Zur Minimierung von glücksspielbezogenen Schäden wurden Regelungen entwickelt um verantwortungsvolles Glücksspielen und risikobewusste Entscheidungen zu fördern. Diese Bemühungen zielten jedoch hauptsächlich darauf ab, die Verantwortung zwischen Aufsichtsbehörden, Glücksspielanbietern und dem einzelnen Spieler im Hinblick auf die Einschränkung exzessiven Spielverhaltens und den damit verbundenen negativen Folgen aufzuteilen. Die Evaluierung von Maßnahmen zur Unterstützung eines verantwortungsvollen Glücksspielens, zusammen mit Regelungen, die die Verantwortung für die Umsetzung festschreiben, brachte keine eindeutigen Ergebnisse und das Konzept wurde von verschiedenen Interessengruppen kritisiert. Ziel: Obwohl die Schadensminimierung weiterhin ein wertvolles Ziel darstellt, wird in diesem Positionspapier dagegen argumentiert, den Fokus der Verantwortung lediglich auf das „Triumvirat“ Aufsichtsbehörden, Anbieter und einzelne Glücksspieler – zu legen. Stattdessen wird ein sehr viel umfassenderer, systemischer Ansatz zur Beschränkung spielbezogenen Schadens favorisiert. Position: Einer systemischen Perspektive liegt die Annahme zugrunde, dass glücksspielbedingte Störungen mit anderen komorbiden Störungen auftreten, mit ihnen interagieren, ihnen vorausgehen oder nachfolgen. Weiterhin besteht eine Interaktion mit sozialen und Umweltfaktoren, die die negativen Folgen des Spielens verstärken und ausweiten können. Dieser Text diskutiert potentielle Interessengruppen im Rahmen eines systemischen Ansatzes sowie verschiedene Herausforderungen bei der Implementierung eines solchen Ansatzes. Schlussfolgerungen: Initiativen zur Reduzierung von glücksspielbezogenen Schäden sollten eine breitere Perspektive als bisher einnehmen. So sollte unter Einbeziehung von zusätzlichen relevanten Interessengruppen aus verschiedenen Hilfesystemen ein Netzwerk aufgebaut werden, damit Probleme, die durch das Spielen entstehen, in verschiedenen Settings bereits frühzeitig identifiziert und angegangen werden können.

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