Problem Gambling Awareness Month 2023 welcomed by EPIC Risk Management

The arrival of Problem Gambling Awareness Month (PGAM) allows EPIC Risk Management to help shine the media spotlight on the year-round issue of gambling-related harm, as the globally-leading organization showcases the need for the provision it delivers in the US and 27 other countries.

PGAM marks 20 years in 2023, and exists to increase public awareness of problem gambling and the availability of prevention, treatment and recovery services, as well as encouraging healthcare providers to screen clients for problem gambling.

EPIC are passionate advocates of the message, not only in March, but throughout the year. However, we take this opportunity to join with like-minded organizations and ensure that a collective voice helps to share a key message throughout America to raise awareness and minimize harm.

The company works across a range of sectors in the US, most prevalently with the NCAA to educate student-athletes, coaches and support teams on the potential risks of gambling-related harm – an arrangement that has reached over 10,000 student-athletes and administrators via face-to-face lived experience presentations in its first year. Other US-based clients include the NFLPA PAF, Chicago Fire, DraftKings, PointsBet and Entain Foundation US, who receive a mixture of EPIC’s education, training, advice and consultancy services.

“We regularly repeat the message that the US has the chance to create the safest gambling industry in the world,” explains John Millington, senior director of EPIC Risk Management.

“This is linked to the ongoing state-by-state legalization of sports wagering that has been taking place over recent years; we want to ensure that safeguarding takes place at the same time as the new opportunities to bet are rolled out in each state, and education plays a key role in that process.

“Through lived experience, we aim to take the problem out of gambling, and the way in which we do this is something we wish to continue to highlight thanks to the enhanced public awareness that PGAM provides.

“As we enter our tenth year, we have built a reputation as the global leader in preventing gambling-related harm via education, awareness, advisory and training, and we are keen to take the chance to reiterate this message within American homes throughout the course of this month-long campaign and beyond.”

EPIC Risk Management’s presence in the US has also grown in time for Problem Gambling Awareness Month, with the recruitment of three new program facilitators. Former boxer Liz Thielen, who brings decades of experience in addiction counselling, ex Major League Baseball pitcher Ryan Tatusko and Seattle-based landscape architect turned mental health and addiction activist Patrick Chester – all of whom provide their own experience of serious gambling harm – will lead education sessions across all of the company’s projects within North America.

Throughout Problem Gambling Awareness Month, EPIC will be highlighting four key areas in which the issue of gambling harm is a pertinent discussion point for organizations, including:

• Adverse effect on performance (whether in the corporate environment or the sporting world, problems with gambling will have an adverse effect on people’s ability to perform)
• Protection of reputation (companies that receive a significant amount of income from the gambling industry must be seen to be exercising a ‘Duty of Care’ to employees, prospects, and customers; failure to do this could result in damage to reputation and loss of revenue)
• Regulatory compliance (there are certain rules, regulations, and laws by which companies must abide; failure to do so could have severe consequences)
• Culture of care, welfare, conscience (many sectors and organisations feel it is their moral responsibility to protect employees and customers as a matter of public health, and the implications on wider society)

For key updates on these topics and more information regarding the organization’s ongoing education and awareness programs, please visit return to our website throughout the month or find EPIC Risk Management on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.