Gambling-related harms seminar: Money and mental health

Please note: this event has passed

Gambling harms: connections between money and mental health

People with mental health problems can be particularly vulnerable to gambling harms and gambling can have a negative impact on someone's mental health. Chris Lees will talk about Money and Mental Health’s research on the connections between mental health and gambling.

He will also outline the two-year project Money and Mental Health ran with financial service providers, exploring how firms can best support their customers and help to reduce gambling-related harm.

Chris Lees is Research Officer at the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, a research and policy charity committed to breaking the link between mental health problems and financial difficulty. Chris works on research projects exploring this link, with a particular focus on essential services. This has included Money and Mental Health’s work on gambling, such as the A Safer Bet report, a best practice guide for banks and building societies and the Raising the stakes policy note. Chris works closely with the Money and Mental Health Research Community, a group of over 4,500 people with lived experience of mental health problems. As Money and Mental Health does not provide support or advice to individuals, Chris won't be able to answer questions on specific scenarios.

This webinar is being presented as part of a NIHR-funded study which is developing a question for identifying gambling harms to individuals and affected others and piloting it in three local authorities. It will be chaired by Dr Emily Finch, Clinical Director for Addictions, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

Mailing List: If you would like to be added to our webinar mailing list and be kept up to date with details of forthcoming webinars or our study on identifying and supporting those experiencing Gambling Harms in local authorities, please email Cat Forward at: catherine.forward@kcl.ac.uk. Our data protections policy can be found here: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/governancezone/GovernanceLegal/Data-Protection-Policy

This event is part of the Gambling-related harms seminar series

At this event

At this webinar attendees enjoyed an engaging presentation by Chris Lees, Research Officer from Money and Mental Health, based in the Policy Institute at King's. Money and Mental Health is a charity funded by money-saving expert and TV personality Martin Lewis. Chris summarised the background to the charity’s work and information about the relationship between money worries and mental health. He then focused on the charity's research on gambling, exploring the relationship between gambling, money and mental health.

Seventy-two people attended – a mixture of social care practitioners, representatives from support organisations, people with lived experience, staff from local authority public health departments, and researchers.

This was the fifth webinar in a series which is part of an NIHR-funded study investigating gambling harms in local authorities. Previous topics have included Women and Gambling, Suicide and Gambling and a discussion with People with Lived Experience of Gambling Harms. If you are interested in joining the mailing list for the study and related events, please contact: catherine.forward@kcl.ac.uk.

See their website for more details of the work of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute.

See this page for more details of our NIHR-funded work with Gambling Harms in Local Authorities.