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 2013 to March 31 st 2014 Charitable registration number N o RR0001 Telephone: (514) and SOS-JEUX Fax: (514) jar@info-reference.qc.ca Web site: CREDITED BY: Graphic design and editing, courtesy of Pro Health Group inc./ 2014 Graphic designer: Renée Champagne Printed: Sisca Images: Shutterstock.com Legal deposit - 2 nd quarter 2014 Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec National Library of Canada ISBN ISSN

3 GAMBLING: HELP AND REFERRAL Active since 1993, Gambling: Help and Referral has recently been distinguished by an evaluation conducted by a research team from the University of Laval and supported by the Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture (FQRSC). The report shows that the helpline addresses an actual need in Québec and provides top quality service to the population. Nearly 175, 000 people have turned to help and information over the past 20 years! The counsellors at Gambling: Help and Referral are very much aware of the insidious impact gambling activities may have on the life of its diverse clientele, so they ensure that every need, and every request are assessed and carefully handled, without judgment, respectfully and confidentially. The helpline not only seeks to inform and refer gamblers or their relatives to proper specialized resources, but to also help them regain control of their life and put a stop to the aftermaths of gambling addiction. The support, information and referral mission of Gambling: Help and Referral could not be upgraded without the skills, passion and professional involvement of each counsellor. Their professionalism and enthusiasm, as well as their teamwork skills should be emphasized. We are also thankful to the ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec for showing us their financial support once again this year. Counsellors handle different types of requests such as assessing the callers gambling habits; giving information for a resource specialized in the treatment of excessive gambling; support and empathy in moments of great distress and referral to a resource specialized in crisis situations and suicide. The anonymous and confidential nature of the calls allows people to talk about their difficulties without the fear of being identified. In fact, suffering, shame, despair, anxiety and insecurity are often part of the callers burden. Gambling: Help and Referral has faced two complaints this year, properly addressed by the coordinator both to the satisfaction of the complainants and the best interest of the service. 3 3

4 Some statistical data This year, about 12,000 people have contacted Gambling: Help and Referral; 811 of which were English-speaking people. Between November 15, 1993 and March 31st, 2014, nearly 175,000 people turned to Gambling: Help and Referral for help and information. Number of requests Years In , out of 86% of calls, 51% were from men and 35% from women, all very preoccupied by their gambling habits. Among the other calls, 8 % came from relatives of excessive gamblers (spouses, siblings, parents, friends, etc.), 2.5% from field workers and 3.5% from educational institutions, employers and the media. Of the total of calls, nearly 93% were from adults, 7% from seniors and less than 1% from teenagers. It should be noted that the amount of calls from seniors is almost twice as much than previous years. Source of requests 2,5 % 3,5 % 8 % Men Woman Entourage Social field workers Others 35 % 51 % 4 4

5 Requests can be divided into the following categories: Requests for listening and support accounted for 10% of the calls Requests for general information on excessive gambling and services provided by Gambling: Help and Referral accounted for 49% Requests for rehabilitation services represented 10% Requests on related subjects such as crisis and suicide thoughts management, mental health, drug addiction and violence, legal services, budget consultations, accommodations, etc., represented 31% of the calls Type of requests General information Related issues Rehabilitation Listening and support 31 % 10 % 10 % 49 % Since January 2006, help is available online at This year, the website has received 602,232 hits, with 156,563 pages viewed and 69,087 visits. This website provides general information on gambling issues but also offers help online. Upon entering the website, the user can either seek for help online or get information on the issue. The site is not only intended for gamblers, but also for their families, relatives, as well as, field workers. Among the types of games mentioned most often by callers were video lottery terminals (53%), lotteries, which have increased again this year (13%), electronic and online games (10%), slot machines in casinos (8%), and poker (7%). More than half of requests originated from the Greater Montréal area, 14% from the Montérégie, over 8% from the Capitale Nationale region, nearly 4% from Outaouais, the same goes for The Laurentians, more than 3% from the Eastern Townships, and nearly 3% from Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec. Finally, around 10% of calls originated from other areas of Québec. 5 5

6 Public Relations In terms of public relations, Gambling: Help and Referral was involved in some twenty activities, seven of which were television and radio broadcasts. In total, the service was the subject of 40 publications by the media. In 2013, a major campaign promoting direct mail was launched in the Greater Montréal area by the advertising distribution network PROCITÉ. In total, more than 1.2 million households received information on all four services provided by the IRCGM, including Drugs: Help and Referral and Gambling: Help and Referral. This was coupled with the provincial campaign by IMAGI featuring a billboard on Gambling: Help and Referral in bus shelters of Québec s major cities. Continuing on the theme of promoting the service, indoor advertisements were displayed in buses in four targeted regions: Outaouais, The Laurentians, Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec, as well as the Montérégie through COGECO MÉTROMÉDIA. In addition, we were able to reach health professionals through agendas intended for them and created by IDCOM. An information session was held in April 2013, regarding the mission and operating principles of our service. It was intended for six Belgian nurses training in Québec, thanks to the Bureau International Jeunesse from Belgium. We would like to underline that Mrs. Hélène Hamel, coordinator of both specialized helplines, was a member of the planning committee for the 41st Conference of the Association des Intervenants en Toxicomanie du Québec, entitled: Dépendance : multiples enjeux, nouveaux défis. During the same conference, Mrs. Hamel also took part in the preparation and presentation of a three-hour workshop on Supervision clinique en milieux des dépendances. Last December, Mrs. Pierrette Gagné, Executive Director of the IRCGM and Hélène Hamel set up a meeting with Mrs. Joane Turgeon and Claudine Thibaudeau, Executive Director and clinical support officer for the organization SOS Violence conjugale. The goal of this meeting was to discuss each organization s operating principles and explore new avenues for cooperation. In March, the Executive Director along with the coordinator attended, at the theatre Le Gesù, a fund-raising event celebrating the 30 years of service of the organization Suicide Action Montréal. They were invited by Mrs. Guylaine Rioux and Christine Durocher from the Vice- Presidency for responsible gaming of Loto-Québec. At the request of Mrs. Nadia Ouellet, Mrs. Hamel also presented in March of this year, the services offered by Drugs: Help and Referral and Gambling: Help and Referral to the students at the Collège Maisonneuve. Thank-you to the collaboration of our valued partners, including The Association des centres de réadaptation en dépendance du Québec and the Association des intervenants en toxicomanie du Québec, to name a few, as frequent publications were made in their newsletters about Gambling: Help and Referral, as well as the telecounselling program for excessive gambling. This ongoing cooperation with various field workers and professionals is of highest interest, as they are valued promotional officers for our services, which complement theirs. 6 6

7 Transfer of knowledge activities The coordinator took part in the unveiling of the Résultats du projet Chez soi Montréal : Vers une stratégie pour mettre fin à l itinérance, in November This event was held by the Douglas Mental Health University Institute; the Commission de la santé mentale du Canada; the Centre hospitalier de l Université de Montréal; and the CSSS Jeanne-Mance. Mrs. Monique Côté, counsellor for the Grambling: Help and Referral helpline and Mrs. Hamel both attended the Workshop Le DSM-5, défiant ou décevant? at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute last November. Over the same period, Mrs. Côté and Hamel participated in the Cross-Training session entitled Troubles de la personnalité et toxicomanie chez les jeunes (15 à 30 ans) : mieux comprendre pour mieux agir. Mrs. Hamel regularly acts a rapporteur in one of the workshops of this biannual activity. Last December, The Executive Director along with the Coordinator took part in a transfer of knowledge activity on the socioeconomic impacts of gambling. Mrs. Élisabeth Papineau from the INSPQ (Les modalités de commercialisation des loteries au Québec : implications sociales et de santé publique), and Mr. Serge Brochu from the University of Montréal (Le jeu dans l environnement correctionnel : portrait, interprétation, impacts et enjeux, as well as L accessibilité, la signification et l impact des jeux dans les pénitenciers fédéraux du Québec, for Valérie Beauregard), were the two researchers presenting these results. Finally, Mrs. Hamel along with Mr. Gil Bellemare, counsellor for the Gambling: Help and Referral helpline, attended a transfer of knowledge activity on Jeux de hasard et d argent : portrait de joueurs et prévalence des problèmes associés on March 2014, by videoconference at the Centre de réadaptation en dépendance de Montréal Institut universitaire. Mrs. Sylvia Kairouz, Ph.D. and Louise Nadeau, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Concordia and Professor in the Psychology Department, University of Montréal, presented the research results on: Portait du jeu au Québec : Prévalence, incidence et trajectoires sur 10 ans. 7 7

8 Vocational Training Gambling addiction has attracted the interest of many researchers, thus enabling field workers to increase their level of knowledge on the matter. Counsellors at the Gambling: Help and Referral helpline have attended various workshops, either in partnership with the University of Sherbrooke and the Association des intervenants en toxicomanie du Québec, or through the Jeudis de l Institut, by the Centre de réadaptation en dépendance de Montréal Institut universitaire. Over the past year, they attended workshops on: Les agressions sexuelles : pour ne pas maintenir le secret / Sensibilisation à l approche motivationnelle et Mise en pratique de l entretien motivationnel / Dépendance jeu pathologique / La charge transférentielle, une aventure tumultueuse en intervention / Troubles de la personnalité et dépendance. Information stands The Bar Association of Montréal - Salon Visez Droit, April 2013 Salon Aînés, Résidence soleil, October 2013 Douglas Mental Health University Institute, April and November 2013; Salon Mieux-Vivre, for seniors, November 2013 Conseil régional FTQ métropolitain - 26 e Conférence annuelle des délégué(e)s sociaux, February 2014 Conferences 9 th Nordic Conference, International conference on «Changing the Landscape of Gambling Treatment and Prevention», May th Annual National Center for Responsible Gaming Conference on Gambling and Addiction, Las Vegas, USA, September 2013 The Association des intervenants en toxicomanie du Québec, October 2013 Last January, the conférence La socialisation des hommes âgés, held at the Centre Saint-Pierre and organized by the Association canadienne pour la santé mentale, filiale de Montréal. Speaker was Mr. Pierre L Heureux, M.A. Andragogy, human relations officer at the CSSS Pierre-Boucher. 8 8

9 Telecounselling Since September 2012, a Telecounselling service for excessive gamblers, in the form of short-term therapy over the phone is offered by the personnel of Gambling: Help and Referral. Implementing such a program considering its short-term therapeutic impact has clearly showed a positive potential. It is a result of a pilot project carried out in 2006 by the Centre and supported financially by the MSSS. It also became quite clear that serving the whole province of Québec, through a unique telephone service seemed not only realistic, but was very well received by the population. Considering the positive impacts of such a project among a part of the population dealing with problem gambling behaviours, the MSSS got the Telecounselling service back on track in 2012, trusting the Centre with the mandate to provide this service over a period of three years. This free short-term telecounselling program - of which Mr. Jacques Ducharme, M. Ps. is the clinical supervisor - reaches out to a great variety of people in terms of socio-demographic characteristics and from all regions of Québec. The Gambling: Help and Referral personnel are in charge of recruiting its participants. In , 74 people dealing with gambling issues have turned to our telecounselling service. Quite innovative, as it is done only over the phone, the program includes an evaluation interview (one hour, thirty minutes) and six telephone sessions of one hour each on the following topics: motivation, finances, erroneous beliefs, triggers, relapse prevention and staying on the right path. Four telephone meeting sessions for follow-up are offered after 1, 3, 6 and 12 months before the end of the program. Telecounselling has emerged as a relevant approach for early intervention, to provide services to a population with mobility difficulties, or a clientele reluctant to ask for assistance in the public network for fear they may be recognized, etc. For 20 years now, Gambling: Help and Referral has been providing reliable and quality service on information, support and referral, to all the population of Québec dealing with gambling issues. We have constantly pursued every effort to earn and keep the trust of our callers, for which this service acts as a safety net. Telecounselling for excessive gamblers Mr. Jacques Ducharme, M.Ps., Clinical Supervisor Mrs. Hélène Hamel, coordinator and counsellor Mr. Gil Bellemare, counsellor Mr. Érick-André Leroux, counsellor Mrs. Isabelle Provencher, counsellor Mrs. Nancy Rocha, counsellor 9 9

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