National Gambling Treatments (NGTs) specially designed by the UK for the problem gamblers showing significant impact. A new report conducted by the GambleAware shows that 60% of problem gamblers have shown a positive impact thanks to the NGTs.
The report shows 9K individuals who made use of the NGTs set up last year for confidential treatment and support, have witnessed a positive impact.
Out of the individuals who completed the treatment from April 2019 to March 2020, 90% showed improvement on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI). For individuals who were previously qualified as problem gamblers in the PGSI, 60% out of them are no longer problem gamblers.
Also, 80% of the people who finished the treatment has reduced their CORE-10 score. CORE-10 score measures psychological distress. Those who ended the treatment early posted better CORE-10 scores.
The amazing news is that 90.2% of these individuals are self-referred, which means people have started acknowledging the problems. Also, the vast majority seek treatment to the end. 69% of individuals completed their course. The number who dropped out came down to 24%. This is a quite significant number compared to 2015/16.
Out of the 9K individuals, 75% are male with 89% of them from the ethnic white background, the report reveals. The average age for them is 34 years. However, the survey shows growing female problem gamblers from Asian, Black, and Minority communities (BAME).
Online gambling has been the primary access point for 58.3% of the participants. 63.8% of respondents have gambled online at some point in time. Bookmakers are the second-ranked gambling location with 27.1%.
Most online gambling categories were slot (38.3%) narrowly ahead of sports betting (36.5%). For betting shops, fixed-odds betting (53.2%) is ahead of sports betting (31.3%), followed by betting on ponies (23.9%).
Most of the people who have entered the NGTs around 71% had gambling debts. 45% of them owed over £5K and 16% more than £20K -£100K. The average gambling expenditure 30 days prior to seeking treatment was £2102. Three-quarters of the problem gamblers were employed and 12% lost their jobs due to their actions.
A vast majority of the gamblers who sought treatment were either in a relationship (36%) or married (29%). Close to 25% of people said they suffered relationship loss because of gambling. People who have gambled at the betting shops reported more relationship and job losses.
The report says around 74% of people who were in a relationship or married likely to gamble online. The bookmakers and casinos are generally patronized by the people who are not in a relationship. Divorced people are most likely to gamble online.
The GambleAware CEO Marc Etches said that the report is a significant milestone in fighting problem gambling in the UK.
Source: https://calvinayre.com/2020/10/29/business/gambleaware-uk-problem-gambling-treatment-study/