GambleAware launches £500,000 research project tender process
Charity looking to commission gambling-related harm research into harm among women and minority communities
GambleAware has kicked off a tender submissions process for two new research projects, focusing on women and minority groups’ experience of gambling-related harm.
The projects, which each carry a grant award of £250,000, aim to address crucial identified research gaps in the understanding of at-risk gambling and how it affects these groups.
Since men make up almost 80% of all gamblers in the UK, dedicated specifically focused data on women is sparse, something which this project looks to rectify.
There is also evidence that indicates participation in gambling and the rate of women who experience gambling disorder is increasing more quickly than among men, but reasons for this are unclear.
The project aims to develop a gendered approach to women and gambling, looking at things including interventions, treatment pathways, and how women are represented in gambling advertising.
Women and people from minority communities are also more likely to be an ‘affected other’ – someone who reports being negatively affected by someone else’s gambling behaviour.
Evidence has also suggested that individuals from minority ethnic communities are less likely to access specialist gambling-harm services compared with white communities.
This research project will look to address that stigma, as well as potential barriers for treatment encountered by individuals in this group.
GambleAware has said it will welcome tenders from “consortia and multidisciplinary teams” that may include research agencies and/or academics and institutions.
The charity suggested that potentially winning bids should take a mixed-methods, multidisciplinary and multi-sector approach to achieve the aims of the research programmes.
Knowledge gained from these projects will be used to inform GambleAware’s commissioning practices.
“This will ensure that services and interventions that are commissioned are accessible and tailored to the needs of women and prevent and reduce the high burden of gambling harms among minority communities,” the charity added.
Two engagement events for tendering organisations will take place in May, with the closing date for applications set at 7 June.