Fighting compulsive gambling among older women
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BLINKING lights, the clicking sound of coins, and perks like free or inexpensive food, drinks and casino bus trips are enticing many older women to gamble. For some people, that seductive environment can be extremely dangerous.
"Casinos are trained to make you feel welcome, while you lose your life," said Sandra Adell, 70, a literature professor in the Afro-American Studies department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who recounted her experiences as a compulsive gambler in the book Confessions of a Slot Machine Queen. In an interview, Ms Adell said advertisements aimed at older adults often show smiling people, dressed up and looking glamorous, "to create an illusion that plays to people's weaknesses". "What the industry is doing," she continued, "the way it markets and keeps casinos filled with elderly people, is morally reprehensible."
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