Is your gambling out of control?

By Marlene McKinnon

Windspeaker Contributor

EDMONTON

We've all heard this old adage: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Well, this is what the Capital Health Authority in Alberta is seeking to test in community trials of an early intervention program, Gambling Decisions, designed to teach gamblers control before they get into trouble they can't afford.

Capital Health is looking for 300 volunteers who feel their gambling practice is becoming a problem in order to test the Gambling Decisions program.

Ellie Robson, Health Strategy Researcher with Regional Public Health, defines gambling addiction by "issue of financial problems. Are you spending more money than you can afford or planned to spend?"

The Gambling Decisions program, Robson explained, "is not a twelve-step program because we aren't trying to get people to stop gambling. We want to see if people can learn to regain control if they are caught early in their addiction."

Before the development of Gambling Decisions, Robson said most treatment programs were geared for the one or two per cent of gamblers who are pathological addicts whose best option is to stop gambling. Robson said this new, experimental program hopes to reach the estimated 25 per cent of gamblers who are teetering on the edge of falling into serious addiction, and help them learn to understand when to walk away from the VLT machine or gambling table.

For those interested in joining the program, "(the process) begins with a free and confidential assessment over the phone with a Public Health Nurse to determine their level of addiction," Robson said. Those who are eligible for the Gambling Decisions program will be given a choice from three formats 1) Self Help program, 2) Self Help Plus program (with two counseling sessions), or 3) Group program (six weekly counseling sessions.) All formats take about six weeks to complete and are conducted by Public Health Nurses through community health centres with follow-up sessions at the end.

"A lot of people won't go to an addictions agency because there's a stigma, or they feel uncomfortable," Robson added. "We are looking to reduce barriers for people to reach out. There's no stigma in coming to a public health centre because the people in the waiting rooms are there for all kinds of health issues."

Robson said Gambling Decisions is the first program in the world with this focus and scope. The program was researched and developed over four years with gambling experts from around the world. Funding for the program is provided by AADAC.

Though Capital Health is not offering a program specifically geared to the First Nations population, Robson said she hopes Native people will come forward to participate.

"Because this is a test program, our first step is to go mainstream, to go right down the middle, but we hope to get a fair representation," Robson said.

This community test program is available only in Edmonton. Robson said those who live outside of the Capital Health region are welcome but are required to travel to Edmonton for counseling sessions.

For more information, telephone [phone].