Asian Coalition Identifies Problem Gambling as “Canary in the Coal Mine”

[Boston, October 22, 2021] Asian CARES (Center for Addressing Research, Education and Services), a coalition of four ethnic-specific community-based organizations serving the broader Asian community and researchers from Tufts CTSI and University School of Medicine will release a report supported by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) on the root causes of problem gambling in the Asian community on Wednesday, October 27 at 2:00 pm at First Parish in Malden, MA.

The new investigation highlights how old, pre-existing, systemic conditions lead to this espoused form of entertainment turns into an addiction that hurts families, children, elders, and the broader community. Root causes include poverty, social and cultural loss due to immigration, and unhealthy stress relief. The timely report advocates for investments in ethnic-based, community-based organizations, questions the marketing practices of casinos, and recommends outside-the-box solutions to more traditional responses to problem gambling that do not adequately serve immigrant and BIPOC communities.

“This research provides deep and important insight about a community considered to be at greater risk of experiencing gambling harms, but has not been adequately studied before,” said Mark Vander Linden, MGC’s Director of Research and Responsible Gaming. “Better understanding of contributing factors to problem gambling such as cultural isolation, is truly groundbreaking research and reinforces Asian CARES recommendation for more linguistically and culturally appropriate services, programs, and treatment.”

Ninety-three percent of the report’s participants were immigrants, 66% had medium English proficiency or less; 52% of worked in the service industry, and 50% had a high school education or less.

“Massachusetts casino revenues hitting an all-time record this past July during the worst public health crisis in modern history. Asian immigrants were forced to make unhealthy choices to survive rather than to thrive,” said Ben Hires, Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC), CEO. “We need to invest in the communities and organizations to bring about systemic changes in educational and economic opportunities for immigrants. When immigrants do not feel isolated here in our neighborhoods, gambling does not become a necessary and losing option for them to put food on their table or find enjoyment in life.”

Given the urgency of the findings of this report, it calls for elected officials, government agencies, and funders to invest more deeply into existing ethnic-specific community-based organizations who can partner to address this problem in a linguistically and culturally appropriate way. Immediate action on the findings and recommendations of this report will begin to bring relief, healing, and hope to communities.

Asian CARES Report Launch Event

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

First Parish Malden, 2 Elm Street, Malden, MA 02148

Register here: https://bcnc.net/events/2021/asian-cares-research-report-launch

The event will also be livestreamed at  https://www.facebook.com/BostonChinatownNeighborhoodCenter/

Research Available Here

Asian CARES Coalition consists of:

Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC): BCNC was the lead agency for this project.

Established in 1969, BCNC is a multi-service organization serving Greater Boston from 3 locations in Boston and Quincy with the aim of empowering Asians and new immigrants. Their mission is to ensure that children, youth, and families served have the resources and supports needed to achieve greater economic success and social well-being. The organization has extensive experience working on community identified research projects that have focused on a variety of issues such as mental health and stress, nutrition and physical activity, and autism in the Chinese community

Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence (ATASK): Founded in 1992, ATASK is the only multilingual and multicultural organization in Massachusetts specializing in culturally and linguistically specific services to Asian victims of violence. ATASK mission is to empower Asian survivors of domestic violence and abuse to rebuild their lives. ATASK provides a holistic network of culturally and linguistically responsive programs and service including a 24/7 Hotline, Community-based case management and advocacy, Emergency Shelter, Shelter Children's Program, Transitional Housing, Legal Program, ESOL and Outreach and Community Engagement. Services are free, provided in 20 Asian languages, confidential, and available to documented and undocumented persons.

Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell, Inc. (CMAA): CMAA was founded in 1984 as a nonprofit agency serving the Cambodian population of Lowell. Lowell is home to the second largest Cambodian refugee population in the US and CMAA aims to improve the quality of life for Cambodian Americans and other minorities and economically disadvantaged persons in Lowell through educational, cultural, economic, and social programs.

Vietnamese American Initiative for Development (VietAID): VietAID was founded in 1994 by community leaders and residents in the Fields Corner Vietnamese community of Dorchester. The organization aims to build a strong Vietnamese community by promoting civic engagement and community building, developing affordable housing and commercial space, providing small business technical assistance and microenterprise development, and offering high quality childcare services

Tufts Clinical Translational Science Institute (Tufts CTSI): Tufts CTSI was established in 2008 with a Clinical and Translational Science Award grant from the National Institute of Health. They aim to promote collaborative, cross-disciplinary, full-spectrum translational research with an emphasis on community engagement. ADAPT is a community academic partnership based in Boston’s Chinatown and is a signature program of Tufts CTSI’s Stakeholder and Community Engagement Program. Tufts CTSI and ADAPT provided support during the project.

Tufts University School of Medicine Department of Public Health and Community Medicine: The Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, is dedicated to the promotion of public health through education, research, population-based and patient-center advocacy, shaping health policy, and community service.