Gambling has long been a problem in Asian American communities. A 2019 report by UMass Boston researchers, funded by the state and led by Institute for Asian American Studies researcher Dr. Carolyn Wong, featured interviews with approximately two dozen low-wage workers and retirees from Chinatown’s food and service industries. Recurring themes in their narratives revolved around “isolated lives in linguistically isolated neighborhoods,” a sameness to their jobs, and seemingly no healthier or more easily accessible alternatives for stress relief than gambling.
The need for evidence-based and culturally appropriate treatment programs to deal with gambling addiction in Chinatown and other Asian communities is clear. Sampan recently had the opportunity to explore the measures taken by Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC), a partner in the 2019 UMass Boston report, to deal with the problem of chronic gambling in the community. This reporter spoke with Yoyo Yau, who has been with BCNC since 2010 and is currently their Chief Program Officer.
Sampan: Could you briefly introduce BCNC’s major programs and partnerships?
Yoyo: We have three programs. Asian CARES (Center for Addressing Research, Education, Services) Research Project is a community-engaged research project on problem gambling in the Asian community. The research “Unpacking the Root Causes of Problem Gambling in the Asian Community” was conducted by Asian CARES, of which BCNC is one of the leading organizations. Asian CARES is partnered with Addressing Disparities in Asian Populations through Translational Research (ADAPT) under Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute. This program is funded by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
BCNC also leads the AAPI Empowerment Project, which aims to implement a comprehensive gambling prevention campaign and raise awareness of gambling addiction for the Chinese-speaking population in Boston, Quincy, and Malden. This partnership strengthens the relationships of organizations across these cities to provide resources for the community. BCNC disseminates the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s (DPH) Office of Problem Gambling Services’ general brochure and a multilingual program gambling leaflet through its community network.
The Everett Community Level Health Project (CLHP) Project RISE (Resilient Immigrants Striving for Equity) offers a three-year, two-phased intervention that targets mental health for immigrant populations via the lens of racial equity and accessibility to culturally relevant resources. Asian American, Haitian, and Latinx immigrant groups are among those collaborating on this initiative.
Sampan: What was the reason for the launching of these programs?
Yoyo: Some of the families we’ve served have experienced gambling addiction-related problems: enormous stress in families, resulting in financial ruin/debt, spousal violence, child neglect, and even suicide. Because of their linguistic and social isolation, elders are especially vulnerable to gambling addiction. We want to lift up the structural causes that contribute to and exacerbate problem gambling as an important and urgent issue for families and the Greater Boston Asian community.
Sampan: Why is it important to you to solve the problem of gambling for the Asian community?
Yoyo: Families have immense potential to prosper if they can fully engage in society and receive the necessary assistance. We build trustworthy connections with families, get to know them, and serve as a valuable resource through our programs. We provide case management, counseling, stress management, financial management, boundary-setting, and a safety plan.
We discovered that many of the problems mentioned in my previous response were caused by someone in the household having a gambling addiction, so it’s important to address the root cause by providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services to respond to immigration stress and behavioral health issues. In Massachusetts, the gambling intervention and treatment services include hotline services, telephone gambling intervention, individual treatment and residential treatment.
Sampan: Among all the causes of problem gambling in the Asian community, as discussed in the Asian CARES study, which do you think is the most damaging?
Yoyo: Gambling occurs for a variety of reasons and causes. Immigration and the long-term impact of poverty, stress, and trauma generated by immigration are the structural, fundamental causes of gambling. In our research, some people viewed gambling as a shortcut for money, others wanted to escape from their job stress and language barriers. All the causes are interrelated: it is a systemic problem and we must collaborate with service providers, stakeholders, community partners, different cities, and state officials to address the structural and systemic issues.
Sampan: How is BCNC dealing with the free Encore casino shuttles that run from Quincy Dorchester, Chinatown, and Malden, in predominantly Asian communities?
Yoyo: The three cities the shuttle buses depart from are largely working-class or have large populations of low-income Asian immigrants. The shuttle buses are making gambling addiction even easier for this community since it makes the way to the casino easier. Many of our research interviewees find the casino to be welcoming and attractive. It gives people a sense of belonging, especially someone with limited English, feelings of being isolated from American society, and limited economic and wider entertainment opportunities. The goal is to raise awareness of the buses’ 24-hour existence, as well as the murals and digital billboards that saturate the regions with a high concentration of young and at-risk populations. Besides this, we have talked with city and state officials to find out what regulations and restrictions for disproportionate marketing are possible. Our common goal is to mobilize different city and state officials and community partners in dealing with this issue. Meanwhile, we are hoping there is more prevention education and the creation of linguistic and culturally appropriate messages sent out to people in the community.
Sampan: Problem gambling has not been focused on in the Asian community historically, and as a result there are few resources accessible and dedicated to non-English speakers or resources that are culturally competent. How does BCNC help with that?
Yoyo: We are working with a Massachusetts Problem Gambling Helpline (gamblinghelplinema.org or 800-327-5050). When people call them and ask for help, sometimes there is a language barrier. BCNC helps translate the messages from the caller. The caller will receive language support in this service.
Also, through the partnership with Civic Education Alliance, Chinese Culture Connection and Greater Malden Asian American Community Coalition, our AAPI empowerment project provides recreational activities including Ping Pong and Karaoke Night, monthly support groups, family field trips, and family wellness days in Malden, Quincy, and Chinatown. Our goals of AAPI Empower Project are to increase sense of belonging, cultural identity, knowledge and awareness of problem gambling as well as to decrease shame, stigma, social isolation and loneliness throughout the healthy and recreational activities that focus on families.
Sampan: Could you elaborate on the two phases of Project RISE, and how it is helping the community?
Yoyo: This program is funded by DPH’s Office of Problem Gambling Services, focusing on Everett and the surrounding towns on the North Shore. The first part of Project RISE is capacity-building, which includes planning and preparation time, workforce development of bilingual/bicultural cultural brokers, asset mapping, and community design workshops for health and resilience. The second Project RISE intervention stage encompasses services and activities that target all four levels of the social-ecological model: individual peer support, family support, community-level initiatives, and a systems-wide coalition. Now we are near the end of phase one and we will move into the implementation phase to address behavioral health, racial equity, and culturally appropriate services next July.
Sampan: The promotional poster funded by the DPH Office of Problem Gambling Services features social activities such as ping pong, karaoke, tea, and coffee chats. When did these activities start and are you seeing any improvement? Have they proven to be good diversions to gambling?
Yoyo: We started activities in 2022, and we have seen an enormous number of participants. We serve about two to three hundred monthly. Some participants share their experiences in these activities on social media like Facebook and WeChat. Now people talk about gambling prevention more and are spreading messages by word of mouth. We are even receiving referrals from participants so that we can reach out to more participants and help them and their families. We look forward to continuing to grow these efforts.
