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Gambling: Help and Referral
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Hello. I’m a 37-year-old woman from a family of 8 children. For the past 2 or 3 years, my 49-y...
I wanted to know how to recognize a gambling problem, and you told me how.
Thank you for your ...
Hello. I have an occasional gambling problem. Once in a while, I overdo it and lose control.
I...
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Statistical Reports
Between November 15th, 1993, and March 31st 2008, more than 125,000 people turned to Gambling: help and referral for help or information. 754 Anglophones people used the helpline this year.
Of the 10 070 calls in 2007-2008, 72% of the callers were worried about their gambling habits (27% were women and 45% were men). Among the other calls, 7% came from peers of a gambler (brother, sister, or friend); 5% from spouses; 4% from parents; and 12% from field workers. Adults accounted for 96% of the calls, 3% were elderly people and 1% of the calls were from teenagers and children.
Requests can be divided in the following categories:
- Requests for listening and support from gamblers themselves, their spouses, their peers and parents amount to 7% of calls;
- Requests for general information amount to 34% of calls;
- Requests for therapy, counselling, self-support groups, or other related requests as budgeting, family violence, substance abuse or suicide amount to 59% of calls.
We wish to underline that 45% of calls were directly handled by the staff of Gambling: help and referral and did not need a referral.
Types of gambling mentioned
Among the types of games mentioned most often by callers were video-lotteries (78% of the mentions), the slot machines at the casinos (7%), and the lotteries (5.5%).
Geographic origin of calls
As for the geographic origin of the calls, 53% originate from Greater Montréal, 13% from Montérégie, 8% from Québec area, 3% from Outaouais, and 23% from the other regions of Québec.
According to its mandate of referring to the appropriate service, the helpline has directed 35 people with complaints against organizations or establishments to the appropriate authorities. Our service was the object of no complaints in 2007-2008; any complaint would have been dealt with, in accordance with our current protocol.
Since the field of intervention for gambling is in constant evolution, it requires a training program which responds promptly to the specific needs of the personnel. This year, we have allowed our team to follow the training program of the Centre Dollard-Cormier, Les Jeudis CDC. Three of our counselors have attended a training day on addictions cognitive deficiency; three others participated in a day’s awareness on the experience of the relatives in the field of addictions. We have also had Mr. Yves Bélanger, psychoeducator, for a session with our team on «Grandir ou souffrir à force d’aider». Finally, Mrs. Rollande Chainey, psychologist, at the Centre Dollard-Cormier, gave us training on the motivational approach with people
experiencing addiction problems.
Concerning public relations activities, Gambling: help and referral participated in 39 activities, 12 of which were television or radio broadcasts. In total, Gambling: help and referral was the subject of 188 mentions in publications or media.
- Week of the Bar of Montréal, April 2007;
- Semaine de sensibilisation au jeu responsable, Fondation Mise sur Toi, September 2007.
- 20th Annual Conference of the Déléguées et Délégués sociaux FTQ, October 2007;
- Centre d’Écoute et de Référence Halte-Ami: Thematic Weeks, November 2007 and March 2008.
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Participation in special events:
- Tour of the Partners of the RISQ concerning the new aspects of drug dependency and rehabilitation, Montréal region, April 2007;
- Canadian Mental Health Association, Congress on «Travailler au bien commun Inspiration, motivation et engagement», May 2007 ;
- Annual congress «L’aide aux proches des personnes dépendantes» Le Passage, Centre d’aide aux proches, May 2007 ;
- Journée des partenaires sur les troubles concomitants en dépendance et en santé mentale, Domrémy Mauricie, May 2007 ;
- Centre québécois d’excellence pour la prévention et le traitement du jeu «Les multiples facettes du jeu», June 2007 ;
- Journées professionnelles sur la santé mentale et la résilience, Conseil multidisciplinaire du Centre jeunesse de Montréal, June 2007 ;
- Launching of a record and a book for the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Maison and Fondation Jean Lapointe, October 2007;
- Colloque sur l’Écoute dans notre société, Centre d’Écoute et de Référence Halte-Ami, October 2007 ;
- XXXVe Colloque sur les dépendances et troubles concomitants, Association des Intervenants en toxicomanie du Québec, October 2007 ;
- 11es Journées Annuelles de Santé Publique, conferences on addictions, November 2007.
- Congress on Gambling, Laval, December 2007.
- Advertising insert, Conference of l’Ordre des Infirmières et Infirmiers du Québec, November 2007;
- Magazine L’Intervenant, 2007-2008, (4 issues);
- L’Infirmière du Québec ;
- La Gazette des Femmes;
- L’Express et La Parole, Drummondville;
- Bulletin Le Point de Repère, Lévis ;
- Directories and Yellow Pages;
- More than twenty Agendas of different groups and weeklies.
- Alstom Télécité Inc., in the Montréal metro, fall of 2007;
- MétroMédiaPlus with advertising in buses of four targeted regions (Lanaudière, Chaudière-Appalaches, Laurentides, Montérégie), fall of 2007;
- CBS Affichage with advertising on bus shelters and billboards in the largest cities of the Province, fall of 2007 and winter 2008.
During the fall of 2007 and the winter of 2008, the Fondation Mise sur toi and the ministère de la Santé et des services sociaux have launched major multimedia campaigns to promote awareness of excessive gambling and advertise our service. Also, the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors, affiliated to McGill University, has published different awareness flyers with our phone numbers. We are grateful for these initiatives.
The ministère de la Santé et des services sociaux has given the Centre the mandate to set up two pilot-projects concerning problem gambling.
Electronic referral
The e-referral project was launched in January 2007 and was available throughout 2007-2008. On the new web site, general information and online help are available. As a first step, the user has to choose between asking for help or asking for information. This service is available not only to gamblers, but also to their spouses and other members of their families, their peers and to field workers. We received 212 requests during the first 12 months and 186 during 2007-2008.
Telecounselling
The second mandate entrusted to the Centre is concerning short term therapy, over the phone. The ministère de la Santé et des services sociaux has mandated the Centre to explore telecounselling. A short term model has been proposed which set the content for seven telephone sessions. A clinical supervisor and qualified counsellors have offered telecounselling to as many as 84 gamblers. The clients came from different regions of the Province of Québec. The experimental phase ended in August 2006 and our final report was deposited to the ministère de la Santé et des services sociaux in December 2007.
Here are some elements that seem important to consider as working hypothesis in the future.
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Telecounselling presents a real positive potential for short term therapeutic impact when measured on moneys gambled and on the proportion of abstinent participants;
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In terms of attrition, telecounselling does not seem to be any less disadvantaged than any other mode of treatment;
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To serve the whole province of Québec with one main telephone service seem realistic;
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The personal contact with the counsellor has been the most appreciated element by the clients;
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The promotion of an eventual telecounselling service should be asymmetrical and should target the outskirts of large cities;
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Telecounselling allows reaching out to a great variety of populations in terms of sociodemographic characteristics;
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This clientele suffers from real gambling problems but possibly at a less severe level. Telecounselling would then present a real potential in early intervention;
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This clientele could finally be more fragile and hesitate to ask for help otherwise;
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The telephone model of intervention could meet the needs and expectations of a certain type of clients more than others. There could be a subgroup of gamblers more susceptible to be helped by telecounselling;
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Some gamblers could present a vulnerability to relapse that the telecounselling, on a short term basis, cannot address. The challenge in the future will be to identify the characteristics associated with this vulnerability in order to rapidly offer different modes of complementary treatment to more fragile participants;
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While staying in the theoretic field of short term intervention, it could still be possible to experiment with the possibility of being flexible with the duration of the intensive phase of the telecounselling thus allowing to insist on certain more difficult stages of treatment. One could even lengthen and intensify the follow-up phase, even offer a different and complementary service to the graduates of the telecounselling;
A reflexion could be done on how to diversify the offer of services. An open telephone support group available during, but also after the telecounselling phase, is certainly an interesting avenue.
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