16th EUSPR Conference and Members’ Meeting

Routine screening for gambling disorder and gambling-related harm within mental health and drug and alcohol services: A feasibility and pilot study

Not scheduled

15m

CharitéCrossOver/0-0 - Atrium (Virchowweg 6)

Poster Posters day 1

Speaker

Dr Rebecca Clarke (University of Lincoln)

Description

Background:
Harmful gambling is a public health issue linked to adverse health outcomes as well as high levels of suicidality, and there is pressing need for initiatives to minimise such harms. However, gamblers experiencing harm do not ordinarily seek help, and if they do it is typically ‘crisis driven’, only occurring after experiencing severe harm. Community healthcare services for mental health and substance misuse and third sector organisations may be well placed to provide secondary prevention initiatives for harmful gambling. There is a need to ascertain a range of perspectives on the viability and barriers of a secondary prevention intervention from such services.
Methods:
The aims of this project were twofold: To ascertain the feasibility of introducing gambling screening in mental health and drug and alcohol services, including the facilitators and barriers to both screening and referral; to test if screening will identify substantial proportions of individuals who are experiencing harmful gambling.
Study 1: Qualitative interviews with clients and practitioners (8 x focus groups (n=64) and interviews (n=80) with staff and service users to collate a range of perspectives on the acceptability, viability and feasibility of screening for gambling-related harm within mental health and drug and alcohol services.
Study 2: quantitative questionnaire distributed across 20+ NHS trusts and charities (n=2500) to test if screening will identify substantial proportions of individuals who are experiencing harmful gambling.
Discussion:
Results showed that most services are receptive to screening for gambling harms. A pilot study established that 7.6% of respondents from a Mental Health Service and 21.1% of respondents from the Substance Misuse Service screened positive for harmful gambling. Our research will improve understanding of the feasibility of mental health and drug and alcohol services for identifying and referring people experiencing harmful gambling. It will allow / facilitate earlier pre-crisis identification, thus reducing the harms that are often a consequence of gambling.