New research at South Australia’s Statewide Gambling Therapy Service (SGTS) is testing an innovative approach to supporting heavy gamblers, that seeks to intervene before a gambler reaches crisis point.
Fewer than 10 per cent of people with a gambling problem seek help, and when they do it is often after they reach crisis point and significant harm has been endured.
The SGTS study, funded by Flinders Foundation, is a family intervention model with strategies developed through recent research that supports people living with a heavy gambler who is resistant to seeking help or in denial about their problem.
The study differs from most gambling support programs, which focus on supporting the gambler and their family when the gambler enters treatment or is trying to quit.
Researchers are calling for participants to take part in the clinical study, that provides up to six sessions with a therapist to guide participants through strategies to help their family member before they reach crisis point.
People living in regional and metropolitan South Australia are encouraged to participate in the study, with sessions delivered either in-person or via telehealth.
To be eligible for the study, participants must be over 18 years old and living with, or in close contact with, a close relative or partner who has a gambling problem and is resistant to seeking help.
Eligible participants will receive an honorarium $50 gift card after their first set of questionnaires is completed and they have attended a first appointment, and a second gift card after completing a second set of questionnaires three months later.
