AUT was contracted by the Ministry of Health in March 2006 to:
- examine the experiences of gamblers and their family/whānau when seeking and obtaining help for gambling related problems
- identify the barriers to help seeking in relation to gender and ethnicity
- identify the factors that influence the accessibility of treatment services and the factors that affect the relevance of services
- provide recommendations for policy and service development to address the issues identified.
Purpose
In March 2006, the Gambling Research Centre at Auckland University of Technology was commissioned by the Ministry of Health to conduct the research project Problem gambling - Barriers to help seeking behaviours. The aim of the project was to describe and understand barriers and enablers to help-seeking, and the experiences when seeking help, of people experiencing gambling harm and of their families/whanau.
Methodology
An international and national literature review relating to health care access and utilisation (including alcohol and other substance use disorders) and of help-seeking by problem gamblers and their families (including barriers and enablers to, and relevance of, services) was conducted.
Four focus groups with a total of 30 key stakeholders knowledgeable in the areas of problem gambling and/or access to health care services were held. Focus groups were semi-structured to elicit detailed discussion around: factors influencing service access; relevance of services; specific barriers and enablers to treatment seeking; cultural aspects in relation to barriers and enablers to treatment-seeking, in particular Maori, Pacific and Asian; gender considerations in relation to barriers and enablers to treatment seeking; and optimal ways to investigate the topic of help-seeking.
The information obtained from the literature review and focus groups was used to design surveys for gamblers (including problem gamblers) and their families. These surveys and the methodology were then refined at two workshops (with key national and international stakeholders) prior to being used.
Structured surveys were conducted with gamblers currently seeking help (n=125), family/whanau (of problem gamblers) currently seeking help for themselves or for a gambler (n=32), and general population gamblers (including problem gamblers) not currently seeking help (n=104). Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with five Maori problem gamblers, one Korean problem gambler and one Korean family member of a problem gambler.
All surveys examined enablers and barriers to help-seeking behaviours, knowledge of treatment services, and past treatment experiences. Participants in the help-seeking samples (gambler and family/whanau) were recruited via referral from a specialist helpline and completed either a telephone- or internet-based survey. The general population participants were recruited via advertisement, word-of-mouth or outside selected gambling venues and completed a survey by telephone, over the internet or in-person. All semi-structured surveys were completed in-person with participants recruited via problem gambling treatment services.