Responsible Gaming Awareness Week Launched in Canada
Nova Scotia recently became the home of Canada's first province-wide Responsible Gaming Awareness Week. The week's theme, "Know Your Limits, Play Responsibly," was central to activities focused on educating people about problem gambling and the importance of playing games of chance responsibly.
"Even though most people play for fun and make careful choices about how they spend their time and money while gambling, we feel that promoting the concept of responsible gaming is important," said Beth MacGillivray, manager of responsible gaming for the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation (NSGC).
The NSGC led the week with the aid of much of Nova Scotia's gaming industry. The organizing committee included the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, Casino Nova Scotia, ticket and video lottery retailers as well as the Canadian Department of Health. Not only was this the first provincial week, but it also was the first time so many key gaming stakeholders have worked together on a gaming-related initiative in Nova Scotia.
"We developed a collaborative industry partnership which met one of the primary goals of the week," MacGillivray said. The NSGC identified collaboration as the first step necessary to meet the three objectives set forth in its three-year strategy to promote responsible gaming. In order to be effective, the NSGC wanted to get gaming operators, retailers, policy-makers and treatment providers together to support a unified cause.
The strategy in Nova Scotia is a pro-active one. In Canada, not only is problem gambling viewed as a public health issue, it is actually a Department of Health mandate. So, while the Department of Health handles the treatment of those who have already developed gambling problems, the NSGC and others focus on preventive measures to ensure that the gaming industry promotes responsible gaming.
According to MacGillivray, that starts with developing programs, products and services to ensure that resources are available to those with potential problems. Once there is support available to those in need, the industry must introduce new products and features designed to discourage unhealthy gambling habits. Finally, through efforts such as Responsible Gaming Awareness Week, it is important to increase public awareness not only of problem gambling but also of healthy and responsible ways to enjoy recreational gambling.
Like disordered gambling, many public health issues require a continuum of care that starts with the initiative on the part of the individual to seek help. Since Responsible Gaming Awareness Week took place in October, the local problem gambling hot line has seen an increased number of calls from people seeking information or assistance. Many of these new callers specifically referenced the literature distributed during the weeklong campaign as a catalyst in their decision to call.
MacGillivray is heartened by the discernable link between Awareness Week and an increase in hot line activity. She also felt that the NSGC accomplished most, if not all, of its targeted goals in the event's debut stating, "It was more important to be right than to be big."
The designation of a particular week each year to emphasize the importance of responsible gaming practices began in 1998, when the American Gaming Association launched Responsible Gaming Education Week. Since then, the idea has been replicated in individual U.S. states and now in Canada – all contributing to an overall increase in awareness of disordered gambling.
