Policy Part 2

Question 1

BC’s public health framework (goal and components)

Answer 1

• Goal: improve health and reduce inequity
• Public health includes:
• • Health promotion
• • Health protection
• • Preventative intervention
• • Assessment and surveillance

Question 2

how do we support public health?

Answer 2

• Report on population health trends
• Promote intersectoral collaboration
• Influence and work with partners

Question 3

promising practices for prevention and health promotion

Answer 3

• awareness and educational initiatives
• policy initiatives
• telephone helplines
• publicly funded treatment programs based on substance abuse treatment approaches
• assessment and surveillance

Question 4

promising practices for prevention and health promotion: awareness and educational initiatives

Answer 4

• Upstream (developmental) interventions affecting risk/protective factors (ie. Healthy Start BC; Nurse Family Partnership)
• • Trying to protect children from childhood traumas that are risk factors for gambling
• School-based prevention (ie. Gam_IQ)
• On-site support and information centres (ie. Game Sense)
• Statistical instruction (learning about the odds of actually winning to avoid things like gambler’s fallacy)

Question 5

promising practices for prevention and health promotion: policy initiatives

Answer 5

• Controls on the availability of gambling (ie. Government supply of gambling)
• Controls on who can gamble (ie. Age restrictions, Voluntary Self-Exclusion program)
• Controls on or modifications of how gambling is provided (ie. Restricting access to EGMs, restricting alcohol and tobacco use in casinos)

Question 6

promising practices for prevention and health promotion: publicly funded treatment programs

Answer 6

• Cognitive-behavioural therapy
• Motivational interviewing
• Psychoanalytical and psychodynamic treatments
• Mindfulness-based addiction treatment

Question 7

promising practices for prevention and health promotion: assessment and surveillance

Answer 7

Research (ex. UBC Centre for Gambling Research, 2014 prevalence study)

Question 8

recommendations from the PHO report: prevention

Answer 8

Ministries of Education, Finance, and Health should work together to develop an approach to enhancing risk avoidance related to gambling among children and youth, with a special emphasis on youth in grades 10 to 12

Question 9

recommendations from the PHO report: health promotion

Answer 9

• Place signage on all electronic gaming machines conveying the risk-rating of that machine, so consumers can make informed point-of-play choices about the games they choose to play
• • However, this isn’t practical since every machine is high-risk
• Improve the capacity of BCLC staff to actively identify and respond to problem gamblers in its venues
• • Could include providing incentives and performance monitoring to encourage staff members to proactively ID and intervene with problem gamblers

Question 10

recommendations from the PHO report: health protection

Answer 10

• Allocate at least 1.5% of gambling revenue to responsible and problem gambling initiatives, with set amounts earmarked for prevention, health promotion, and treatment initiatives to meet evidence criteria
• Meaningfully involve public health stakeholders in decisions regarding availability of gambling in BC
• Reduce the availability of high-risk electronic gaming machines and high-risk gambling offerings on PlayNow.com

Question 11

recommendations from the PHO report: assessment and surveillance

Answer 11

• Develop and implement a comprehensive monitoring system to routinely and systematically track the economic and social impacts of gambling in BC
• Collect and monitor data to assist local governments and communities to make evidence-based decisions about hosting and/or expanding gambling facilities
• Establish and maintain a stable source of funding to support ongoing gambling-related research and evaluation in BC