From Stress to Gambling Harm in Later Life
A new project will explore how stress contributes to gambling harm in later life, working with older adults to inform future support and policy.
This project is funded by the UKRI-Gambling Harms Research and Innovation Partnership grant. It will run for twelve months (April 2026 – April 2027). It will establish a Lived Experience Panel of older adults with personal experience of gambling harm, who will act as co-researchers shaping the project's direction through a series of workshops. Alongside this, the team will conduct a review of existing evidence on stress and gambling vulnerability in later life, and build a network of community, statutory, and academic partners. By the end of Phase 1, outputs will include an evidence framework mapping stress-gambling pathways in older adults, accessible briefings for local organisations and policymakers, and a co-designed proposal for a larger follow-on programme of research.
Business and Management relevancy: The project is built around active partnerships with Leeds City Council and connects directly to the local gambling harm strategy. We hope that our findings will inform how public services identify and respond to gambling harm in older adults, with transferable implications for prevention policy at regional and national level.
We'd like to thank our community partners for the work they're doing on this project. Leeds Older People's Forum, Joanne Volpe (Co-Director), Damian Dawtry (Project manager), Simon van Baal, Mei Yee Tang and Rebecca Dalby
