University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Alberta Gambling Research Institute Alberta Gambling Research Institute 2002-11 High quality aging or gambling with health? the lifestyles of elders who play bingo : final summary report Cousins, Sandy O’Brien; Witcher, Chad; Moodie, Judith Alberta Gaming Research Institute http://hdl.handle.net/1880/1627 technical report http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 2.0 Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca 1 High Quality Aging or Gambling with Health? The Lifestyles of Elders Who Play Bingo FINAL SUMMARY REPORT By Sandy O’Brien Cousins, Chad Witcher, and Judith Moodie Faculty of Physical Education & Recreation University of Alberta Edmonton, AB T6G 2H9 for the Alberta Gaming Research Institute December 2002 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3 Executive Summary------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4 Framework of the Report------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7 Introduction--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 Objectives---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9 Relationship to Existing Research and Literature-----------------------------------------------------9 Theoretical Framework----------------------------------------------------------------------------------11 Methods and Procedures Overview-----------------------------------------------------------------------12 Pre-Study and Participant Observation-------------------------------------------------------------------12 Bingo Beginner-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13 Flamingo Bingo-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------15 “Monday Night Bingo” at Meadowcroft Senior’s Apartments-------------------------------------18 Where else does a single older woman go?-----------------------------------------------------------20 Section One: Descriptive Survey Research--------------------------------------------------------------21 Cross-Tabulations Social Factors: Bingo Players versus Non-Players----------------------------21 Age----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------21 Gender ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------23 Geographic Location-------------------------------------------------------------------------------24 Housing----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------25 Formal Education-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------26 Income------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------27 Supplemental Income------------------------------------------------------------------------------28 Marital Status----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------29 Self-rated Health------------------------------------------------------------------------------------30 Health Limitations----------------------------------------------------------------------------------31 Functional Capacity--------------------------------------------------------------------------------32 Cross-Tabulations of Lifestyle Factors: Bingo Players versus Non-Players---------------------33 Leisure Time-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------33 Alcohol Consumption------------------------------------------------------------------------------34 Smoking----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------35 Eating Behaviour------------------------------------------------------------------------------------36 Exercise Stage Membership-----------------------------------------------------------------------37 Exercise Involvement/week-----------------------------------------------------------------------38 Efficacy for Walking City Blocks----------------------------------------------------------------39 Other Gambling Activities-------------------------------------------------------------------------40 Gambling Habits in the past 12 Months---------------------------------------------------------40 Hours Spent on Gambling Activities-------------------------------------------------------------41 Bingo Playing Descriptives-----------------------------------------------------------------------------42 Bingo Experience-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------42 Bingo Costs------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------43 Number of Bingo Cards Played-------------------------------------------------------------------44 Importance of Bingo--------------------------------------------------------------------------------45 Bingo Partners ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------46 Summary and Discussion-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------47 3 Principal Investigator: Sandra O’Brien Cousins, Ed.D. Professor, Exercise Gerontology Faculty of Physical Education & Recreation (780) 492-1033 (phone) (780) 492-2364 (fax) [email protected] Co-Investigators: Chad Witcher, B.Sc. Honors [email protected] Judith Moodie, M.Sc. Alberta Centre For Active Living 11759 Groat Road Edmonton, AB T5M 3K6 Acknowledgements This report is the culmination of two years of intensive research supported by the Alberta Gaming Research Institute. Without the initial financial support of the AGRI, the data and findings presented here would not be available. This grant not only built new knowledge around the game of bingo among older adults, but also hired a young professional going on to graduate school. Chad Witcher, co-author and research assistant in the last year of the study, became a strong colleague in carrying this research through to completion. First, appreciation is extended to Dr. Garry Smith, Node Coordinator, who was pro-active in developing my interest in older adult gambling behavior. He also gave freely of his time on many occasions to answer questions and was encouraging all along the way. Ms. Vickii Williams was also of immense help in terms of making time available to clarify the administrative management of the grant. We appreciated her ongoing support and enthusiasm as the study progressed. Rhys Stephens was an amazing resource support to this project. Through regular emails, we received important documents, reports and manuscripts available on the web. There is a lot of gambling research underway, and when you are running a study, it helps to be reminded that the rest of the world is still producing information. Finally, we have to acknowledge that the greatest learnings in this project came from the players who gave us honest opinions, interesting stories and detailed information about how and why they play. For that, we are extremely grateful, and in respect of their gift of knowledge, we heartily thank ALL of the older people who participated in this study (about 465). 4 Executive Summary Bingo is a popular past time with many older Albertans. However, little is known about older adult lifestyles within the gaming context and little attention has been paid to the positive gambling issues among the elderly, and especially women given that they are the dominant social stereotype in bingo. The objectives of this study were: 1) to identify the social and health characteristics of elders who play bingo; 2) to understand the lifestyle patterns of a bingo ‘way of life’ among weekly players in later life; 3) to capture the personal meaning of, and motivation for, the bingo experience and its contribution to a ‘good old age’ (health, wellness and quality of life). The main findings of this research were: 1. Who plays bingo? Bingo is an important recreational activity for only 16% of Albertans over age 65. Most seniors, both male and female really do not like Bingo, and hold little value for it. While bingo players come from all walks of life, seniors who play bingo tend to be older, female, less healthy, of lower income, and of lower education. Older women are a visible group in bingo halls, but older men are part of the scene. Older bingo players tend to spend more time and money on gambling activity than non-players. Elders who have physical disabilities seem to be more avid players – elders with more heath concerns were found to spend more money, buy more cards, and play longer. 2. What are the bingo and lifestyle patterns of older bingo players? Many elders play bingo within their own housing complexes, but many of these participants do not consider themselves to be “real” bingo players. Bingo players who play more money and more hours a week in public gaming halls are considered to be “real” bingo players, as opposed to recreational players who play only one night a week in their place of residence. There were no significant differences between bingo players and non-players for smoking, healthy eating or amount of leisure time available. The defining lifestyle characteristic of bingo players, with few exceptions, is that they do not drink alcoholic