Recent and past research projects, presentations and posters published by RGC’s Centre for the Advancement of Best Practices.
Presentations & Posters
Explore recent and past leading-edge presentations
and posters presented by RGC staff.
Responsible Gambling & Gambling Harm Prevention
- From Problem Gambling to Gambling Harms: Moving to a New Framework
Discovery 2021,
October 21st, 2021Alex Price, PhD, Senior Researcher, RGC
While RG typically focuses on preventing and responding to problem gambling, it has the potential to do much more. By focusing on gambling harms more broadly, RG initiatives can reach a wider audience, including third parties and communities. Discover how to reduce the negative impacts of gambling across the many dimensions of peoples’ lives.
Intended for: regulators, operators, RG and treatment professionals globally.
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- The Emerging Impact of COVID-19 on Gambling
34th National Conference on Gambling Addiction & Responsible Gambling,
November 6th, 2020Alex Price, PhD, Senior Researcher, RGC
In Ontario, COVID-19 has had a profound effect on public health and every-day life. In part, this impact has been reflected in the provincial government’s emergency measures declaration on March 17, 2020. These measures have resulted in the restriction of most hospitality and recreation businesses, including in-person gambling facilities, and many non-essential workplaces.
In order to understand the effects of the pandemic on Ontarian gamblers and make evidence-informed changes and improvements to community outreach and prevention programming, the RGC’s Centre for the Advancement of Best Practices rapidly conceived and implemented a provincial study.
Intended for: regulators, operators, RG and treatment professionals in the United States.
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- Beyond PG: RG Prevention Messaging that Anyone Can Use
34th National Conference on Gambling Addiction & Responsible Gambling, Digital Symposium
July 21, 2020Janine Robinson, Director of CABP, RGC
Responsible Gambling programs and interventions have an incredible opportunity to stop Problem Gambling before it starts, but many of these initiatives focus exclusively on supporting individuals who have already begun to experience problems with their play. This workshop explored practical ways to talk with players about prevention before they experience harms, using proven RG strategies.
Attendees learned what staff can do and say when sharing prevention programming, how to provide training and support that empowers staff to have effective prevention-focused interactions with players, and the role that senior executives and board members must play to move beyond compliance and formulate a proactive, preventative RG strategy.
Intended for: industry professionals, regulators, researchers, and treatment providers
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- Driving Culture Change through Responsible Gambling Training
New Horizons 2020
March 12, 2020Janine Robinson, Director of CABP, RGC
This workshop explored innovative solutions to fill knowledge gaps in the RG sector, and showcased the latest training strategies and communication tools for their implementation. It discussed how to begin a culture shift away from compliance-based programs and towards high value, impact-driven RG.
Intended for: industry professionals, regulators, researchers, educators, and treatment providers
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- Continuing our Responsibility in an Era of Mistrust
2019 Clubs NSW Annual Conference; Clubs ACT
November 1, 2019Janine Robinson, Director of CABP, RGC
This session outlined characteristics of RG leaders, highlighting leading practices in RG internationally and exploring how first-rate RG programs can build trust and increase social licence to operate. It outlined opportunities for growth and innovation in RG, including enhanced training and reinforcement for staff, targeting appealing and positive RG messaging to a broad range of players, and creating a culture of RG.
Intended for: Club owners, executives, and employees in Australian jurisdictions
Watch Keynote
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- Game Changers: The Evolution of RG Initiatives and Practices for Consumers
Singapore Symposium on Gambling Regulations
August 30, 2019Shelley White, MA, Chief Executive Officer, RGC
The presentation highlighted emerging responsible gambling initiatives and practices that are
having a positive impact on consumer behavior, in Canada, United States, Australia, UK and Asia. There are considerable changes occurring in the responsible gambling landscape given the technology, demographic, economic, political, and social shifts taking place around the world, that are driving change. The presentation provided a holistic perspective looking at both new RG initiatives, as well as adaptations to existing practices. New initiatives include innovative approaches to training, customer engagement, technology solutions, social marketing, market segmentation and measuring impact. Adaptations to accreditation, self-exclusion, the provision of RG information to consumers and youth education are underway as we seek to have greater impact on consumer engagement and behavior. It also looked to the future and offered recommendations for future areas of focus.Download Presentation Slides
- A Needs Assessment of Responsible Gambling Manager Education
Co-presented with Kahlil Philander; 17th International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking
May 28, 2019
Janine Robinson, Director of CABP, RGC
RG training programs designed to help frontline employees recognize and respond to player warning signs are relatively common in the industry, but more extensive and specialized training for those who design and lead RG programs is needed. This session shared the results of a training needs assessment for RG managers, conducted to fill this gap in the field.
Intended for: industry professionals, regulators, researchers, and educators
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- Creating and Implementing Effective Responsible Gambling Measures
Global Gaming Expo G2E Asia
May 23, 2019Shelley White, MA, Chief Executive Officer, RGC
Maintaining a responsible gaming programs is an important part of most regulated gaming operations, and savvy companies dedicate a significant amount of time and money to providing these resources to their players. Presentation considered various responsible gaming requirements in use throughout Asia and individual measures RGC offers to address these unique problems. Also, discussion regarding responsible gaming programs being proposed for Japan, using individual experiences and insights to evaluate the effectiveness of and challenges posed by measures like entry levies, visit limits and more.
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- Implementing Social Safeguarding Measures & RG Messaging: Global Examples
Japan Gaming Congress
May 17, 2019Shelley White, MA, Chief Executive Officer, RGC
Responsible gambling occurs through the collective actions and shared responsibility. Presentation focussed on RGC’s programs/products available for the industry and ones that are offered to the public. An overview was provided about RG Check for venues and online.
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- ROI on RG
Discovery 2019
May 8, 2019Shelley White, MA, Chief Executive Officer, RGC
No overall measure can provide a perfect assessment of RG performance, but many of these measures can contribute to a better understanding of the impact of RG programs on players, employees and organizational performance. Presentation discusses several measures, along with their strengths and weaknesses.
Intended for: operators & regulators
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- Risk Mitigation Strategies for Lottery
Discovery 2019
May 8, 2019Sasha Stark PhD, Senior Researcher, RGC
This presentation outlines the risks of lottery play and outlines mitigation strategies that address the needs of players, retailers, and operators. Recommendations focus on the importance of providing information, tailored training, organizational support, and evaluation.
Intended for: operators and regulators
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- Public Policy Issues and Protecting the Public Interest
Toronto Osgoode Hall Panel Discussion
November 6, 2018Shelley White, MA, Chief Executive Officer, RGC
Panel discussion on Responsible Gambling with a focus on policies, accreditation, litigation and duty of care. RGC’s presentation focused on RG Check.
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- The Brave New World of Responsible Gambling
Responsible Gaming Academy, Vienna
April 24, 2018Shelley White, MA, Chief Executive Officer, RGC
The gambling landscape is transforming dramatically due to the significant demographic, technological, economic, political, and social changes that are taking place globally. To continue to have an impact, RG policy, programming, and response needs to keep up with the changing profile of gambling. This presentation explores how research can inform the development of evidence-based responsible gambling policies and practices to reduce harms to players, while also reducing risk and enhancing trust for operators. It also examines leading practices that regulators, operators, and non-profit organizations are adopting to prevent problem gambling in this new reality.
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Online Gambling & Sports Betting
- Collaboration for Supporting Digital Wellbeing & Preventing Online Gambling Harms
9th Annual GambleAware Conference
December 8 2021, London, UKSasha Stark PhD, Senior Researcher, RGC
Intended for: UK and international stakeholders in gambling and other digital entertainment fields.
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- Online Behaviours, Substance Use, & Intoxicated Gambling among Ontario Gamblers during the COVID-19 Pandemic
20th Annual Conference of the Alberta Gambling Research Institute
April 7, 2021, virtualSasha Stark PhD, Senior Researcher, RGC
A growing body of research suggests various addictive behaviours have increased during COVID-19-precipitated closures and restrictions. Although substance use, online behaviours, and gambling while under the influence are associated with an increased level of gambling risk, little information exists on co-participation and simultaneous use patterns.
Intended for: Canadian and international researchers and responsible gambling stakeholders.
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- Public Health Implications of Online Sports Betting in Canada
Public Health Policy Rounds, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
September 2019Alex Price PhD, Senior Researcher, RGC
This presentation provided an overview of sports betting world-wide and examined evidence of key risk factors, such as youth and young adulthood, marketing and advertising, betting features, cultural influence of sport, and substance use. The presentation closes with implications for sports betting legalization in Canada and policy options
Intended for: graduate students and faculty at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, stakeholders affiliated with the collaborative program in public health policy at the University of Toronto
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Youth & Young Adults
- Developing and Testing Messaging about Cannabis and Gambling for Young People
20th Annual National Center for Responsible Gaming Conference on Gambling and Addiction
October 13, 2019Sasha Stark PhD, Senior Researcher, RGC
This poster reviews a scoping exercise to identify the needs for education and awareness messaging about gambling and cannabis among adolescents and young adults in Ontario. Results suggested that information on the links between gambling and cannabis, the risk associated with gambling following cannabis use, and strategies to reduce risk would be useful for young people. One social media message about the links between excessive gambling and cannabis use was pilot tested successfully among adolescents.
Intended for: researchers, prevention, operators and regulators
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- Knowledge Translation Strategy for Coming of Age Youth in Greater Sudbury
New Critical Directions in Gambling Studies Conference
September 3, 2019Sasha Stark PhD, Senior Researcher, RGC
This poster outlines the results of a focus group and in-depth interviews conducted with 19 and 20 year olds who live in Sudbury, a large municipality in northern Ontario with a diverse youth population and that is undergoing gambling expansion. Results showed that coming of age youth could benefit from knowing more about gambling risks, ways to limit risk, and sources of support, and the best ways to share this information are online, on campus, and where they gamble.
Intended for: early career gambling researchers
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- Sharpening Our Approach to Youth Gambling Prevention
17th International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking
May 28, 2019Sasha Stark PhD, Senior Researcher, RGC
This presentation outlines ways to improve approaches for youth gambling prevention, including building new partnerships, targeting high-risk subgroups, including other behaviours and/or substances, and finding new ways to reach and engage youth.
Intended for: researchers, prevention, operators and regulators
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- Understanding and Reducing Harms among Young Adults in Ontario
7th Annual Momentum Research Realized Conference
May 14, 2019Sasha Stark PhD, Senior Researcher, RGC
This presentation provides a general overview of the increased risk of gambling harm among young adults, existing youth prevention programs in the province, and recent RGC initiatives focused on coming-of-age young adults and cannabis use.
Intended for: clinicians, mental health professionals
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About the Responsible Gambling Council
The Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting safer gambling by influencing positive change and advancing responsible gambling standards in Canada and around the world.