Is Gambling Help Online attracting a new cohort of treatment seekers?
1. Ms Simone Rodda Coordinator, Gambling Programs (including Gambling Help Online) Turning Point
2. Gambling Help Online is an initiative of the Ministerial Council on Gambling (MCG) and is funded as part of an agreement between all State and Territory Governments and the Australian Government Is Gambling Help Online attracting a new cohort of treatment seekers? Simone Rodda May 2011
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9. Are there particular sports that you follow? Making which ever sport I was watching a lot more meaningful and also the rush you get from winning What did you originally enjoy about the gambling? To start with I just bet on Australian sports then I found the online sports gambling forums and started betting USA sports. I almost bet $400 on baseball 5 minutes before I logged on here. 10:15 AM 10:09 AM 10:12 AM 10:06 AM
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12. Client contact – time of day; Chat vs Victorian GHL ( July 10-Mar 11 )
What we will cover: Reminder of what the program is Overview of top line numbers accessing the program Results of a study into who is using the service initial data from Study 2 on help seeking experiences and client satisfaction Qualitative responses on why clients are using/would refer to program
Also, Kathleen latage, Renata Vergara and the Counsellors providing the services In addition, Larissa Strong and her team at DoJ have contributed to and managed all aspects of this program.
Our team of trained counsellors respond to more than 90,000 telephone calls a year 24 hours a day as well as provide support and referrals online Staffed by a multidisciplinary team of approximately 50 professional counsellors. Over the past ten years we have responded to over 100,000 calls from people concerned about a gambling problem Gambling Helpline services (Vic, Qld, Tas, NT) Just under 20,000 calls a year, stable over past 18 months Appointment based telephone counselling program Running for three years. Branded Ready to Change, assessment plus 4-6 semi-structured program (Vic, Tas), with a work book developed that includes some of david hodgins self-help tools Gambling Help Online (national) An initiative of the Ministerial Council on Gambling (MCG) and is funded as part of an agreement between all State and Territory Governments and the Australian Government
We built a program with multiple components. There are self-assessment pages to measure risk of a problem, money spent and a descriptor of signs of a problem. Within the website there are 30,000 words of content written by our counsellors. This includes self-help information on how to cut down or quit and an interactive quiz on faulty cognitions that develop around winning. As part of the development we conducted focus groups across Australia and content such as managing finances was derived from these groups. Each jurisdiction signed off on the content and provided local service information housed on specific state information pages.
We were contracted to provide both live chat and email counselling. In an attempt to attract more treatment seekers we differentiated these service by branding email as support and advertise it within the website as got a question get an answer or tell someone about your plans. Both live chat and email support can be accessed via the home page by clicking start online counselling now. A client completes a short demographic questionnaire and gambling assessment and then proceeds to an online chat window.
Immediate No appointment Available 24/7 Usually different counsellor each time Not the same as internet therapy – self-help with or without therapist assistance It works similarly to instant messaging where counsellor and client type in a secure environment. While there are no physical cues, the speed of typing, errors in text, punctuation and smoothness of session provide information. A client who has recently gambled will often type quickly and not wait for a response from the counsellor. There will be short incomplete sentences without punctuation and full of typos. The amount of content covered in an online session is about half of that in a face-to-face or telephone session, so we use push-page technology to introduce previously developed content which then becomes a source of discussion within the counselling session.
9am-5pm – 30.8% 5pm-9pm – 43.8% Weekends – 25.4%
Different distribution than Helplines 9am-5pm – 30.8% 5pm-9pm – 43.8% Weekends – 25.4%
24% of visitors return to the site Views from mobiles 13% Good referrals from Ebay
The available data suggests that only five per cent of all visits came from outside metropolitan areas. The map above shows the location of people who accessed the GHO site.
High rates of viewing during business hours corresponds to emails sent – time intensive activities – chat occurring at a different time (evenings)
3 calls a month over 33 months – follow-up with Doj presentation on online marketing and promotion through google ad words, facebook etc
Advertising promoted the free online counselling services, self-help tools and email support available through the gambling help online website. The strapline read ‘Click, Chat, Change: 24/7 Online Live Counselling. Self Help Tools and Email Support’. The advertising also promoted the 1800 858 858 number as a secondary message.
Gamblers using chat are more often male with a significantly higher proportion of males from NSW and a significantly lower proportion of males from Qld. The highest proportion within the four age groups was the under 30’s. There were jurisdictional differences across age with NSW having a significantly higher proportion of under 30s. There was also a higher proportion of gamblers aged 30-39 from Victoria 31% vs 26% for the national sample. A difference was also found for queensland gamblers against the national dataset. Qld callers over 50 were significantly over represented 24% compared to 13%
An age by gender interaction was found with significant difference found between males and females aged under 30, 40-49 and over 50. The under 30 chat clients were significantly more likely to be male and over 40 and 50 significantly more likely to be female.
Gamblers using chat are more often EGM gamblers with 4% sports betting, 8% casino gambling, 14% wagering. There was a significant difference between gambling chat clients from Victoria with higher levels of wagering as their primary gambling concern (18.5 compared to 14%) WA wagering 4 or Casino 2, EGM2 Higher proportion of Asian background in NSW (21% compared to 10% nationally) 15-29 men significantly lower pgsi scores than over 50 No difference for females across age groups Range 3-27, 5 scored less than 8, 695 were over 8 no difference across states 41% of over 50s contacted during business hours. This is significantly higher than the total sample contact during business hours (29%)
Over the first 15 months there were 247 unique email requests Gamblers, CSO, Professionals, Students, Venues 919 email interactions Fewer clients than Chat (15%) Higher proportion from Tasmania (35%) a Lower proportion from South Australia (2%)** First email contact during BH (51%) Higher proportion during BH than Chat * Proportion of females accessing chat was 42% - sig difference between email and chat
Similar to the chat picture with more pronounced differences by gender
Higher proportion of Asian background NSW (11/30) 27% vs 10% of national sample No difference for email Pgsi score by age or gender PGSI range 0-27, one client scored 0 and all others scored more than 9
Surprises from first study.. Differences across jurisdictions High PGSI scores Uptake of email Age by gender interactions Compared with Helplines, significantly higher usage outside BH Levels of distress higher Lack of anonymity around email, low uptake in counselling online
Where people said that they had previously spoken to a counsellor, the most common method was face-to-face. Interestingly, the rest of the population of previous treatment seekers stated that their treatment was distance based as via telephone or online through GHO or another website. This suggests that peoples views of what constitutes counselling may be shifting.
112 females 208 males – 61% of people seeking help for the first time are aged between 20-29
32% less than one year when isolated to new clients
Sig difference on new vs current and new versus previous
Ready – sig difference between new and previous versus current Able – sig difference between new and previous – previous sig less confident in resisting an urge to gamble Willing – no difference
Easy to access without interruption or questioning from anyone around Easier to communicate – feel more free to express what I wanted to Why would they recommend – A good medium to start the process of giving up and possible transition on to face to face if needed. It's easy to be honest about feelings when anonymous. It is very difficult to talk about the extent that problem gambling affects all areas of life. On-line appears less judgemental and the option is always there to switch off and run away if need be. It calms you down
Numbers Confidence? Second quote also said there is no tension or embarrassment Immediate Accessible Just easier “ After being at the pokies for 4 hours today and losing the majority of my money, I didn't know what else to do, I thought it might give me a different outlook to what I've recieved in the past, and to be honest its been better this time round, more informatvie – 40-45 female, metro melb Previous – 3 horses, 2 casino 2 cards rest EGM – no sports bet
Current and previous counselling all via telephone or online
How are these new treatment seekers affected by the gambling problem? The following questions may help you determine if someone else's gambling is affecting you in some way. In the last three months, how often: PG Sig Others Impact Screen (M=12.4, SD=4.2, Range 0-18), implications for interventions Response format : Not at all Rarely Sometimes Often
My reasons were we do not have a land-line and the cost of a 1800 call on my mobile would be excessive.
No sig difference
Sig difference by gender – males more often prefer online versus females Significant difference in first contact and previous for preference for online counselling
Self-screening and assessment Personalised feedback better than assessment only Use with Motivational Interviewing to shift readiness to change Personalised feedback from a ‘person’ better than text or images Information, score, personalised feedback
Moderated forums Peer-to-peer and/or therapist driven moderated or un-moderated (active seeders) Users can lurk or sign up to post Outcomes Better if discussing program content rather than problem symptoms Useful adjunct to online/offline treatment programs.
Wireless and Mobile Technology Reminders (e.g., app, med) Motivational messages and relapse prevention (NZ smoking cessation) Use to pull (rather than push) information (Swiss alcohol consumption study) Smart phone application (Murdoch mood, alcohol, cannabis monitoring)
Assessment, MI, CBT Typically 4-6 sessions delivered online With or without therapist assistance Comparable outcomes at 12-months compared with face-to-face treatments Adjunct to other treatments Self-guided modules do not change according to the client presentation.
Approximately 16% of total clients accessing either online counselling option are family and friends of gamblers. Significant others are most often female across chat or the email support program. Higher proportion of females compared to gamblers using chat *** or email ** 18/20 partners using email for EGM concerns No difference by jurisdiction Compared to gamblers, higher rates of CSO’s using Email for EGM related problems Higher rates using chat during business hours 42 vs 29 Lower rates of chat in evening periods (34.4% vs 46.1%) PG Sig Others Impact Screen (M=12.4, SD=4.2) Higher proportion than gamblers using chat during business hours ** Approximately 15% of total clients accessing either online counselling option are family and friends of gamblers.. Higher proportion of females compared to gamblers using chat *** or email ** 18/20 partners using email for EGM concerns No difference by jurisdiction Compared to gamblers, higher rates of CSO’s using Email for EGM related problems Higher rates using chat during business hours 42 vs 29 Lower rates of chat in evening periods (34.4% vs 46.1%) PG Sig Others Impact Screen (M=12.4, SD=4.2), implications for interventions