Gambling on the golden years: So much to lose, so little to gain

CrossCurrents

By Astrid Van Den Broek

Esther, a single mother, trudged her way through a modest-paying job all of her working life. By retirement, she had built up an impressive $50,000 in life savings. But after Esther’s daughter moved two provinces away to start a new job and Esther started her retirement, life suddenly began to look a little empty. After being introduced to gambling by a friend who played regularly, before she knew it, she was hooked. By the time she realized that she had developed a serious gambling problem, that $50,000 was long lost to slots and lottery tickets. To this day, she cries at the thought that she won’t even be able to pay for her own funeral.

Statistics show that gambling participation declines with age, but as this composite case illustrates, problem gambling has particularly serious consequences for older adults, and with the rapidly expanding aging population, gambling problems may also be growing. “Gambling has become a new pastime for seniors, and the government spends large amounts of money on promoting gambling in order to generate revenue,” says Kim Gosnell, chair of the Ontario Resource Group on Problem Gambling and Older Adults. “There is increased access to gambling and more social acceptance and disposable time and money, which results in a larger number of seniors gambling today compared to 15 years ago.”

A 2004 report published by the Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) found that among Ontarians 60 years and older, 74 per cent had participated in some type of gambling activity in the past year, with the most popular activity being lotteries. About two per cent were identified as having a moderate to severe gambling problem.

Dr. Gary Nixon, an associate professor in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, sees this trend across Canada: “It’s a growing issue because the baby boomer generation is growing older and we’re seeing the advent of casinos and an increase in the amount of leisure time older adults have,” he says.

With that increased leisure time comes increased risk. The effects of problem gambling can be much more devastating at this stage of life than at others, says Lisa Pont, a problem gambling counsellor at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. Older adults are more vulnerable than other age groups, given their greater dependence on fixed incomes and more limited ability to recoup gambling losses. A 2008 study published in the Journal of Gambling Issues reports that certain categories of older people, including those without a partner and those with a disability, are more likely to draw on their savings to fund gambling activities more than they can afford to lose. That’s the case whether it’s a trip to the casino or something as seemingly innocuous as buying a lottery ticket.

But calls to help lines show that older adults can’t afford the lure of fast cash. In the one-year span beginning in October 2006, the Ontario Problem Gambling Helpline received 209 calls from men and 209 calls from women between age 55 and 64. The helpline received 109 calls from women and 103 from men over age 65. However, research shows that the large majority of older adults with problem gambling do not consider themselves to have a problem and lack observable signs associated with problem gambling. The most common indicators of problem gambling included gambling more than one intended and feeling guilty about gambling.

Older adults may experience unique issues tied to gambling. The RGC study found that the most common benefit attributed to gambling was winning money, but gambling also appeared to serve an important social function. Older adults are more likely to have suffered losses – be it spouses or jobs or children in the home – which makes them more vulnerable to start gambling as a way to deal with that loss, grief and loneliness, particularly because alternative resources and activities for older adults are limited, says Pont. “If these older adults have chronic health issues or increased fatigue, their options for socializing are that much more limited,” she adds.

Staving off isolation and loneliness is something the gambling industry does well, offering convenient casino shuttle bus service, meal discounts for seniors and other perks. “Transportation is taken care of, you’re indoors in a relatively safe environment, sitting down; you’re not alone,” says Pont. In fact, notes Pont, some clients she works with who suffer from chronic disease or chronic fatigue feel a sense of “no pain” or “no fatigue” once they’re in the casino.

In Ontario, recognition of the unique problem of gambling among older adults led to the development of the Ontario Resource Group, which involves nine sites, including the Sister Margaret Smith Centre in Thunder Bay, where Gosnell is a member of the Problem Gambling team. The partners are funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to provide problem gambling services to older adults and work together to develop resources and prevention and awareness information specific to older adults.

Such services are badly needed because social isolation means that gambling problems often go unnoticed or untreated, according to a 2000 study from the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission. The study found that older adults often do not know where to go for information about gambling or where to access help and support.

Gosnell identifies other barriers to help, including transportation issues, mental health issues like depression, poor physical health that affects mobility and acute chronic conditions such as arthritis and cultural or religious beliefs about money. Stigma also exists among older adults, many of whom grew up during a time when mental health and addiction issues were more taboo than they are today.

Reaching these older adults may require creative approaches and flexibility. “That may mean doing home visits rather than office visits for treatment and support in order to overcome some of the barriers,” says Gosnell. “It is also important to be aware of other issues that may accompany problem gambling, such as issues with alcohol. And older adults with gambling problems are at higher risk for suicide, so services need to screen for suicidal thoughts,” notes Deb Kostyk, a seniors and gambling prevention and education consultant with the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba in Winnipeg.

“It’s easier with a young healthy person with some resources to develop a plan to get them into a job development program or get them back to the gym,” says Pont. “It can be more challenging when someone’s ‘winding down’ in their lives than when they’re starting up.”

At the Sister Margaret Smith Centre, the Older Adult Programs is one of only three programs in Ontario that provide specialized treatment services to older adults (the other two are the Sault Area Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie and Lifestyle Enrichment For Senior Adults in Ottawa). The program offers assessment and counselling, therapeutic groups and continuing care to help clients maintain the changes they’ve made. Prevention activities include initiatives such as Gamble Scramble, a series of gambling awareness games produced in collaboration with Addiction Services Kenora and the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba.

A key component of treatment involves looking at the bigger picture of the client’s life to get a sense of what is missing, says Pont. “Clinicians need to look at the areas of aloneness in that person’s life,” she says. “Are they socially connected? Do they feel there are places where they have meaning in their lives? Do they feel like they are contributing anywhere in their lives? Are they still connected to something or somebody?”

Given the connection between grief, loss and gambling, Pont and her colleagues are working on establishing a grief and loss group through CAMH to give older adults with gambling issues a healthy alternative for working through their losses. “Having opportunities for older people to talk to one another works; it can be powerful,” says Pont. “Educating physicians and clinicians who work in other areas with older people on how to spot gambling problems and how to have those conversations is also key.”

Pont, Gosnell and others would like to see more awareness around the issue of older adults and gambling because all signs indicate that it’s not a problem that will go away on its own. “The older you get, the more losses you’re likely to have had – spouses, losses of identity related to work and parenting,” says Pont. “You’ve been active and when you’re retired and the kids are gone, you think, ‘Now what?’ For some, it’s gambling.”

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