Defining and Measuring Gambling Harms
The work of GRG has been central to advancing how gambling harms are defined and measured. Wardle and Reith have helped shift the field beyond narrow clinical categories of “problem gambling” toward a public-health model that recognises a broad spectrum of harms-financial, relational, psychological, and societal. GRG members have co-developed frameworks and survey instruments that capture these wider harms, enabling policymakers and health services to understand their scale and distribution. Wardle’s leadership in the Gambling Survey for Great Britain consolidates these advances, providing robust, population-level data that foregrounds harm reduction and prevention over industry interests.
A key publication in this package of work is 'Measuring gambling-related harms: a framework for action', published by the Gmabling Commission, in which a model of harms was set out that has since shaped policy and action. One aspect of the model is depicted below:
Publications
Developing survey questions capturing gambling-related harms to self and others - Heather Wardle, Viktorija Kesaite, Robert Williams, Rachel Volberg
Reith, Gerda , Wardle, Heather and Gilmore, Ian (2019) Gambling harm: a global problem requiring global solutions. Lancet, 394(10205), pp. 1212-1214. (doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31991-9) (PMID:31443927)
Wardle, Heather , Reith, Gerda , Langham, Erika and Rogers, Robert D. (2019) Gambling and public health: we need policy action to prevent harm. British Medical Journal, 365, l1807. (doi: 10.1136/bmj.l1807) (PMID:31068335) (PMCID:PMC6506754)
Rogers, Robert D., Wardle, Heather , Sharp, Catherine A., Dymond, Simon, Davies, Timothy J., Hughes, Karen and Astbury, Gaynor (2019) Framing a public health approach to gambling harms in Wales: Challenges and opportunities. Documentation. Bangor University, Bangor, Wales.
Rogers, Robert D., Wardle, Heather , Sharp, Catherine A., Wood, Sarah, Hughes, Karen, Davies, Timothy J., Dymond, Simon and Bellis, Mark A. (2019) Gambling as a public health issue in Wales. Documentation. Public Health Wales NHS Trust, Bangor University, Bangor, Wales.
Wardle, Heather , Reith, Gerda, Best, David, McDaid, David and Platt, Stephen (2018)Measuring gambling-related harms: a framework for action. Documentation. Gambling Commission, Birmingham, UK.
Reith, G. (2012) Beyond addiction and compulsion: the continuing role of environment in the case of pathological gambling. Addiction, 107(10), pp. 1736-1737. (doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.03669.x)