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Prevention of Problem Gambling
MAY 2001, Volume IV, Issue 5

*A Monthly Newsletter on Problem Gambling Prevention Information, Research, and Initiatives*

"No progress has ever been made against an epidemic by treating only the casualties."

Math Curriculum to be Piloted in Louisiana

A middle school curriculum entitled, "Facing the Odds: The Mathematics of Gambling" will soon be piloted in six middle schools in Louisiana with the ultimate goal of having it offered as part of the curriculum in all junior high schools in Louisiana. The math program will meet the need created when, in 1999, the Louisiana legislature passed a bill (R.S.27:401) which required education about problem gambling for students in Louisiana schools.

The curriculum was a joint project of the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling and the Harvard Medical School. It was authored by Howard J. Shaffer, Ph.D., along with Matthew Hall and Joni Vander Bilt, M.P.H. of Harvard Medical School's Division of Addiction. It seeks to both improve math skills as well as educate students as to the potential for gambling related problems. Leaders in Louisiana chose this curriculum over others that it investigated because it met National Council of Teachers of Math standards and could address the issue without placing additional burdens on teachers and school districts.

The goal of the Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling is to make the curriculum available free of charge to educators by placing it on the Internet. It should be available by the end of May. Visit the Massachusetts Council's website and look for a link to the curriculum at www.masscompulsivegambling.org

We would be very interested in hearing from anyone who uses this curriculum. Please contact us at ccpg@ccpg.org

Public Health Issues Emerge at Senior Symposium

The Problem Gambling and Connecticut Seniors: Symposium 2001, held on 4/3/01 in Farmington, CT, was the first gathering of its kind in New England. The symposium was attended by approximately 90 service providers to the older adult community, including professional health, addictions, and mental health providers and prevention specialists from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal provided the opening address. He spoke of the vulnerability of older adults to the risks of problem gambling and his concern that elected officials consider carefully that the government's increasing dependence on gambling revenue may be indirectly contributing to statewide gambling problems. He suggested that it is the responsibility of government to provide funding for problem gambling services.

Keynote speakers addressed a broad range of topics: the successful establishment of the New Jersey statewide senior gambling prevention program and its positive impact upon intervention and treatment of older adult gambling in the state; the psychological and neurochemical changes experienced by older adult gamblers and the need for broader screening for problem gambling by members of the medical community; the marginalization of our older population and the cultural erosion of a rich participation in the experiences of death, loss and grief, that predisposes us to seek escape and relief in potentially addictive activities like gambling; and an overview of the emergence of senior specific gambling research.

Media coverage of the event highlighted the medical aspect of the symposium and cited the link between physical health and gambling behavior among older adults. Participants of the symposium reported that the event offered a wide range of factual and statistical information and gambling treatment options in the area of senior gambling.

Reminder:
New England Conference on Problem Gambling
May 15, Marlborough, MA

Program includes: prevention, intervention, and treatment; recovery issues and the family; navigating the judicial system; community application of the public health perspective; the use of advertising to answer gambling promotion in media.

Visit www.masscompulsivegambling.org or call 617-426-4554 to register or for more information.

New England Problem Gambling Helplines
CT 800-326-6238
MA 800-426-1234
RI 877-9-GAMBLE
VT/NH 888-822-8274

This Newsletter may be copied without permission. Please cite Prevention of Problem Gambling Newsletter as the source. For more information, please contact the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling (primarily funded by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe and the Mohegan Tribe) at 203-453-0138, the DHMAS Compulsive Gambling Treatment Program at 860-344-2244, or the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling (funded in part by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health) at 617-426-4554.