annual report Gambling: Help and Referral

Transcription

1 annual report Gambling: Help and Referral

2 INFORMATION AND REFERRAL CENTRE OF GREATER MONTRÉAL Annual report of Gambling: Help and Referral April 1 st 2014 to March 31 st 2015 Charitable registration number N o RR Hochelaga Street, Suite 101 Montréal, Québec H1W 1G4 Telephone: (514) Fax : (514) crgm@info-reference.qc.ca Web site: CREDITS: Graphic designer: Renée Champagne Printed: Sisca Images : Bigstock.com Legal deposit - 2 nd quarter 2015 Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec National Library of Canada ISBN ISSN

3 Gambling: Help and Referral The Gambling: Help and Referral service (GHR) has been active since For the past 22 years, nearly 200,000 persons have resorted to this helpline. Its mandate is declined in 3 parts: support, information and referral; such a mandate would not be efficient without the expertise, passion and know-how of each counsellor of the service. Their professionalism, enthusiasm and team spirit are worth mentioning. Indeed, counsellors at Gambling: Help and Referral are very much aware of the insidious impact gambling activities may have on the lives of its diverse clientele. Thus, they ensure that each request or need is assessed and handled with great attention, without judgment, in a respectful and confidential way. The service provided by Gambling: Help and Referral not only seeks to inform and refer gamblers or their relatives to proper specialized resources in terms of excessive gambling, but to also help them regain control of their lives and put a stop to the aftermaths of gambling addiction. Counsellors handle different types of requests such as assessing the callers gambling habits, giving contact information of specialized resources in excessive gambling; as well as support and empathy in moments of great distress and referral to resources specialized in crisis or suicidal situations. The anonymous and confidential nature of the calls, allows people to share the inexpressible without fearing to be identified. Indeed, suffering, shame, despair, anxiety and insecurity are often part of the callers burden. This year, GHR received one complaint that was properly addressed by the Coordinator, to both the satisfaction of the complainant and the best interest of the service. In 2006, the MSSS granted Gambling: Help and Referral the mandate to handle online requests via its website. Each year, more than a hundred of web visitors receive assistance. Furthermore, GHR was given another mandate by the MSSS in 2012 that is to provide a Telecounselling service to excessive gamblers. As a result, after three years of operation, 209 persons have resorted to this short-term new service. We would particularly like to thank the Ministère de la Santé et des Services Sociaux du Québec for showing us their trust once again this year. 3

4 Some statistical data This year, more than 12,500 calls were received by the service, among the callers, approximately 6% were English-speakers. Between November 15, 1993 and March 31, 2015, a total of 188,643 persons called to request the services of Gambling: Help and Referral. Number of requests since Source of requests In , 88% of callers have expressed their great preoccupation concerning their gambling habits: out of this proportion, 45% were women (39.5% of callers) and 55% men (49% of callers). It should be noted that the number of women concerned by their gambling habits have increased by 5% compared to last year. Among other callers, 6% were relatives of excessive gamblers (partners, brotherhood, parents, friends, etc.), more than 2% were from social field workers and nearly 3.5% were from school institutions, employers and media. Out of the total of calls received, nearly 94% were from adults, 5% from seniors and less than 1% from teenagers. 2 % 3.5 % 6 % Men Women Relatives Social workers Others 39.5 % 49 % 4

5 Type of requests General information and needs on excessive gambling and GHR service: 46% of calls. Related issues such as crisis and suicidal thoughts management, mental health, addiction or violence issues, need for legal services, budget consultation, shelters, etc.: 38% of calls. Requests for rehabilitation services and self-help groups: 12% of calls. Needs for listening and support: 4% of calls. 4 % Information Related issues Rehabilitation Listening and support 38 % 46 % 12 % Types of gaming mentioned Types of gaming that are often mentioned by callers are: video lottery terminals (59%) up this year; slot machines in casinos (more than 11%) also up this year; poker (7%); lotteries (6%) dropped by half compared to last year; and last but not least online games (7%) and electronic games (2%). Other types of gambling, including bingo, horse racing, sporting bets and some casino games stand for 8%. This year, 46% of calls were from the Greater region of Montréal, a decline compared to past years, more than 13% were from the North Shore of Montréal, 13% from Montérégie, more than 9% from Capitale-Nationale, approximately 4% from the regions of Mauricie-and- Centre-du-Québec, Eastern Townships and Outaouais. Finally, nearly 7% of calls were from other regions in Québec. 5

6 Since January 2006, online assistance is available via the website: Gambling: Help and Referral website provides both general information and assistance online. When entering the site, the user is invited to select assistance online or get information on gambling issues. Moreover, the site is directed not only to gamblers, but also to their families, relatives and social field workers. Public Relations Public relations staff at Gambling: Help and Referral (GHR) were involved in the organization of twenty-seven activities; moreover, the service was mentioned in 122 publications in the media. In 2014, a major promotion campaign via the regional newspaper network of Transcontinental was launched throughout Québec, in the Greater Montréal and Abitibi, in Gaspésie, Côte-Nord and Nord-du-Québec, as well as Bas-Saint-Laurent and Eastern Townships. All these regions were targeted according to our statistics related to the source of calls. GHR s public service announcement was broadcasted on various TV channels, including RDS and Radio- Canada; moreover, it was closed-captioned in accordance with the new broadcasting standards. A new visual was produced in the framework of the provincial campaign featuring advertising posters in bus shelters in the main cities of Québec by the company IMAGI. In an effort to keep promoting our services, announcements were designed by COGECO MÉTROMÉDIA to be featured inside buses covering four targeted regions: Outaouais, Laurentians, Mauricie, Centre-du-Québec and Montérégie. Moreover, health professionals were reached through agendas designed by IDCOM for them. A Facebook profile was created, as well as an awareness campaign campaign entitled Est-ce que le jeu t aime? ( Does gambling likes you? ), designed by the company Locomotive and which is currently being broadcasted, since March 9, 2015, for a period of six months. In addition, public relations staff has held various information kiosks throughout the year: respectively in April and May at the Salon Visez Droit 2014 of the Bar of Montréal and the knowledge transfer activity of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute on the theme Cocaïne, santé mentale et prise de risques, at the Salon de l immigration et de l intégration 2014 at the Palais des congrès; in October 2014 at the annual seminar of the Association des Intervenants en toxicomanie du Québec in Trois-Rivières; finally during the annual conference of union counsellors of the Montréal Métropolitain FTQ in February 2015 and the Salon Ma Carrière in March We have attended the Grand Forum de la prévention du suicide in October 2014; and the fundraising activity of the Chic Resto Pop last October. 6

7 Also, announcements have been broadcasted on a regular basis to promote Gambling: Help and Referral and the Telecounselling program for excessive gamblers, in the newsletters of the Association des centres de réadaptation en dépendances du Québec and the Association des intervenants en toxicomanie du Québec. Transfer of knowledge activities The Coordinator of the service attended a seminar entitled Conjoint Recherche et Intervention sur les Substances psychoactives du Québec (RISQ) et Infrastructure de recherche du Centre de réadaptation en dépendance de Montréal Institut universitaire (CRDM-IU Montréal), focused on the assessment of programs, services and practices. She also attended the training on Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, with Mrs. Pascale Brillon, Ph. D. Vocational training For some decades now, gambling addiction has been the subject of various researches providing various results to enhance the level of knowledge of counsellors in the field. Staff at Gambling: Help and Referral is continuously updated on the latest findings, to be able to provide proper and efficient assistance to its clientele. For that purpose, counsellors at GHR attended various training days, being within the training program elaborated either in partnership with the University of Sherbrooke and the Association des intervenants en toxicomanie du Québec, or through the Jeudis de l Institut, du CRDM-IU Montréal. Here are the subjects of some trainings attended last year: Intervention auprès des familles et des proches en contexte de dépendances / Neurobiologie des conduites addictives chez les personnes impulsives / Cyberdépendance. Telecounselling A telecounselling service for excessive gamblers, in the form of short term therapeutic assistance over the phone, is also provided by the staff of Gambling: Help and Referral since September 2012, thanks to the funding granted by the MSSS. The potential of such an approach in terms of therapeutic impact in the short term was clearly demonstrated by the pilot project carried out in 2006, in which the MSSS was also involved financially. It was also proven that, covering the whole territory of Québec, from a sole telephone service point is not only realistic but very well received by the population. Taking into account the positive impacts of such a project on a fraction of the population coping with ill gambling habits, the MSSS granted the IRCGM in 2012, the mandate of providing the telecounselling service for a duration of three years. This free telecounselling service for excessive gamblers, whose clinical supervisor is Mr. Jacques Ducharme M.Ps., is intended for a clientele with various social and demographic characteristics from all the regions of Québec. Participants are selected by the staff of GHR. 7

8 This short term treatment program for excessive gamblers is innovative for providing over the phone, an assessment interview lasting an hour and a half, as well as six telephone appointments lasting one hour each on the following topics: motivation, finances, erroneous beliefs, triggers, relapse prevention and staying on the right. Four telephone follow-ups are also provided, at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months before the end of The program. The telecounselling service has emerged as a relevant approach for early intervention, bringing assistance to a population with mobility difficulties, or a clientele reluctant to ask for help in the public network due to fear of being identified. In , 99 people with excessive gambling issues resorted to the telecounselling service. Out of this data, 55.2% were women, with 59% living in region and 30.9% possessing college or university training. Also, 15% were aged between 18 and 35 years old, 13.6% between 36 and 45 years old, 56.8% between 46 and 65 years old and 13.6% were over 66 years old. For the past 22 years, Gambling: Help and Referral has been providing reliable and quality support, information and referral service to the whole population of Québec to deal with excessive gambling. We have been doing our best to keep deserving and maintaining callers' trust, as we want to remain a safety net they can rely on. Telecounselling staff for excessive gamblers: Mr. Jacques Ducharme, M.Ps, Clinical Supervisor Mrs. Hélène Hamel, Coordinator and Counsellor Mr. Gil Bellemare, Counsellor Mrs. Leila Ech-chouyekh, Counsellor Mr. Érick-André Leroux, Counsellor Mrs. Isabelle Provencher, Counsellor Mrs. Nancy Rocha, Counsellor 8

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