country. GamCare also works to raise awareness outside the gambling industry with professionals who may come into contact with a problem gambler. GamCare Clinical Training Officer, Trevor David, is working with the Royal College of General Practitioners on a project to give a basic understanding of the realities of problem gambling to GP’s, health and other professionals and advise on how to signpost those in difficulty to help.
When someone calls the GamCare HelpLine they are connected to a confidential GamCare Adviser. Advisers are highly trained and ready to offer immediate help to callers who are often in crisis when they call. Callers aren’t always gamblers; in 2010/11 21% of GamCare’s callers were partners, friends or family that were concerned about a loved one. 86% of callers to the GamCare HelpLine rate the service as “Very Good” or “Excellent”, above the national average for helplines and a real achievement for everyone involved.
The caller is provided with advice and support appropriate to their situation, this may include referral to GamCare’s counselling services delivered across the UK either directly from one of GamCare’s offices in London or Salford or through a GamCare Partner. GamCare Partners are frequently local addiction counselling services, whose counsellors receive GamCare training and are funded by GamCare, to
provide services throughout
G.B. Increasingly GamCare clients are using the online counselling service – one of the first online counselling services in the World. This range and type of provision means services can meet differing client needs and ensures the funds raised by the GREaT Foundation are put to best use. GamCare counselling has an excellent success rate: of those who are assessed as problem gamblers at the start of treatment, two thirds are no longer at the end of counselling. On average it costs GamCare around £660 to treat each individual – so taking the two thirds success rate, this
leads to a return on
investment of approximately 7:1. This compares very favourably with substance misuse that has an approximate return on investment of 2.5:1.
GamCare is not anti gambling but it is pro responsible gambling. GamCare sees its role to promote responsible gaming on the part of both the player and the operator. Responsible gaming keeps gambling fun and makes good business sense for operators. P layers who feel safe and in control are more likely to enjoy gambling as a social activity and continue to bring their stakes to the operator with whom they feel comfortable.
GamCare is often asked when gambling can be classed as a problem. It is most simply when a person’s life becomes negatively affected by gambling. This is frequently, but not always a financial problem; stress, relationship breakdown, inability to function at work and an inability to enjoy life outside gambling are all symptoms. This can have potentially serious repercussions both for the gambler and their family.
The casino industry has long been aware of the potential damage that could be caused by those who have lost control of their gambling and casinos have a long history of working with GamCare as part of a comprehensive prevention strategy to ensure player protection measures are in place.
The nature of the casino business means that
relationships with customers can be very close, and casino staff can often spot the warning signs if a customer starts to develop a problem. This is important as a problem gambler is more likely to gamble through a number of channels (BGPS 2010) and the signs may not be picked up elsewhere. It is thought that less than 1% of those who could benefit from support will seek help until they either reach a crisis point, or they are approached and encouraged to call an organisation like GamCare. The information that casinos exhibit in their lobbies at the point of contact with a customer, and the information that is displayed around the casino floor are a key part of the prevention work with GamCare. In 2009/10 40% of those contacting GamCare did so having seen materials that were on display in gambling premises of one kind or another.
Problem gambling is not well
understood amongst the general public and the hidden nature of the problem means friends and family of a problem gambler will struggle to identify the signs of a gambling problem, but if it is identified early, much of the damage can be mitigated. Casino staff are therefore the front line in helping identify those who are in need of help early. A well timed conversation with the Casino Manager could make all the difference in a person’s life. And GamCare is clear that it has a role to support industry staff. GamCare HelpLine is available to provide confidential advice and support to those working in the gambling industry, at all levels, who have concerns about a problem gambler and wish to talk about their experience. We are also looking to launch very soon an online Forum to provide help, advice and a forum to exchange best practice between operators.
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