Employee Perceptions of Responsible Gambling in Macao: Concepts, Indicators, and Intervention Barriers

This study examined what venues employees ’ perceptions of responsible gambling are, how they detect problem gamblers, and what barriers are impeding them from taking action. Semi-structured interviews with 49 venue staff in Macao yielded a wealth of in-depth data that were then thematically analyzed. The results indicated that employees generally understand what responsible gambling entails. While they are all confident in their ability to recognize the signs of problem gambling and provide adequate assistance to problem gamblers when asked, the majority of them rarely approach problem gamblers proactively. The barriers that preven t them from intervening were probed. The findings shed light on how to encourage venue employees to intervene on their own initiative in order to improve responsible gambling practices in Macao.

Source: Journal of Gambling Studies - April 21, 2022 Category: Addiction Source Type: research