Routine screening for gambling-related harm
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Routine screening for gambling disorder and gambling-related harm within mental health and drug and alcohol services: A feasibility and pilot study
IRAS ID
335673
Contact name
Amanda Roberts
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Lincoln
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Over half of adults in the UK gamble; but nearly two million of these suffer problems such as debt, relationship troubles, and mental health problems. Most people who experience gambling harms do not ask for help or get sent for treatment. However, people do ask for help with other issues such as depression or problem alcohol use from places such as Community and NHS Mental Health Services or Charities such as We Are With You.
Would these services be able to ask people about gambling, to find out if they are experiencing gambling harms and then refer them for treatment? Currently people working in these services do not ask.Individuals in this project will be users of, or work in, either a mental health or substance misuse treatment service. The project will be over 2 years.
The study will involve interviews and focus groups with individuals to find out if staff and patients in those services are happy to talk about gambling. We will find out what may help people talk about it. We will also find out the best way of checking for gambling harms. The main way is to use a questionnaire called the Problem Gambling Severity Index, but we will also ask if people in like the shorter ones better as they are quicker to use.
The study will then find out how many people are experiencing harms from gambling. We will find out which questionnaire is the best to use by seeing how many harmful gamblers are found, and which services they are more likely to be seen in. We also to find out who may be most at risk of gambling-related harm.The project will hopefully find a way to help more people suffering from gambling-related harm by identifying them and referring them for treatment.
REC name
East of England - Cambridge East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/EE/0014
Date of REC Opinion
26 Jan 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion