Ben Hires, BCNC CEO, and Yoyo Yau, Chief Program Officer Spoke at Tufts 7th Annual Asian Health Symposium

On Friday September 30, BCNC CEO, Ben Hires, and Chief Program Officer, Yoyo Yau, spoke about program gambling in the Asian and new immigrant communities at Tufts CTSI 7th Annual Asian Health Symposium.

Yoyo spoke on a panel about “Asian CARES (Center for Addressing Research, Education and Services) Research Findings and Recommendations: Problem Gambling in the Asian Community.” Read the research here. She was joined by Dr. Heang Rubin, Co-Principal Investigator, Geunhee Cho, Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence (ATASK) Korean Client Navigator, Shirley Zen, South Cove Community Health Center Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, and moderator Dawn Sauma, ATASK Co-Executive Director. Together they discussed the impact on Asian families and Yoyo shared some of the recommendations to address the needs including employing a public health approach to the root causes of problem gambling and conducting an equity audit about responsible advertising in the Asian community.

In a second panel focused on the “Impact of Targeted Casino Marketing on Asian Communities,” Ben spoke about the targeted marketing that is found in Boston’s Chinatown, Quincy and other Asian immigrant enclaves including the casino buses, billboard and mural advertising, and Asian event sponsorship. Fellow panelists Frank Poon, Quincy’s Civic Education Alliance, Mark Vander Linden, Massachusetts Gaming Commission Director of Research and Responsible Gaming, Mark Gottlieb, Executive Director of the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University, and moderator Dr. Carolyn Wong, Institute for Asian American Studies discussed the impact on the community, the complexity of the issue, and the need for attention and collaboration on this topic.

BCNC has participated in extensive research on the root causes of gambling addiction on children, youth, and families and the broader Asian community. Learn more about BCNC research efforts here.

Photos: Tufts CTSI