ON - Addiction advice in gamblers’ mail
Assess your habits, OLG urges
Anne Jarvis, Windsor Star, December 01, 2006
In an unusual attempt to prevent addiction, thousands of gamblers who receive promotions from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation will also get a letter from its chief executive officer warning about the risks and asking them to assess their habit.
"It’s an early-intervention strategy as opposed to waiting until everything has gone south and there is serious debt and relationships have fallen apart," said Rob Simpson, chief executive officer of the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre, which is conducting the experiment with the OLG.
Twelve thousand gamblers in Ottawa who play at the OLG’s charity casinos and slot machines and are on its mailing list for promotions will start receiving the letter, signed by CEO Duncan Brown, in January. The letter, tested on focus groups this week for its effectiveness, will advise them that 330,000 people in Ontario have a gambling problem and that gambling too much can lead to loss of control and unmanageable debt.
It will ask gamblers if they think they need to cut back and if they’ve tried but can’t. It will suggest that, if they answer yes, they should seek help and will provide them a telephone number for a counselling program.
Simpson described the letter as an "inoculation" to try to protect people from the risks of gambling. The questions are designed to be a "trip-wire" to get people to think about their gambling, he said. He compared it to other broad approaches to public health such as encouraging people to get their blood pressure tested.
"There’s no suggestion that ‘I think you’re a problem gambler,’" he said. "It’s going to be a very gentle nudge."
The study targets people who gamble once a week or more because research shows that they face a higher risk of developing a problem. People who hide a severe gambling addiction probably aren’t on the OLG mailing list and won’t receive the letter, Simpson acknowledged. Others could be offended by it. But he said, "we believe there are a high number of people who would benefit."
The OPGRC, a provincial agency funded by slot machine revenue, will poll one-quarter of the recipients to ask them if they read the letter, if it made them think about their gambling and if they sought help. If the letter appears to be effective in preventing gambling problems, Simpson said, it could be sent to gamblers across the province, even those who gamble less than once a week.
"Certainly we do plan to expand it to all our customers if it’s effective," said Betty Palantzas, the OLG’s manager of responsible gaming.
Simpson credited the OLG for participating in a rigorous, peer-reviewed study by an arms-length agency.
"I find that really a refreshing change," he said. "This is a really serious effort to get people sensitized."
It’s an interesting and innovative approach to preventing problems, said Nina Littman-Sharp, manager of problem gambling services at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. A letter probably won’t be as effective as talking to people, she said, noting that casino officials in Holland and Switzerland approach problem gamblers on the casino floors. But for Ontario, she said, it’s a big step.
It’s also important for gambling providers to collaborate with research and treatment, she said.
"They’ve got the database (of patrons)," she said. "They know maybe who is more at risk. That’s not the kind of information that researchers and service providers have."
© The Windsor Star 2006
© 2006 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.
