GAMBLING: HELP AND REFERRAL

GAMBLING: HELP AND REFERRAL
In the fall of 1993, at the time the Québec
government established the first casino, a wide
range of measures for the protection of gamblers
were put into place, including Gambling: help and
referral, implemented to make people aware that
gambling is, for some, not a game anymore. The
helpline soon became the reference when someone
is looking for help for gambling-related problems.
The service, provided by the Information and
Referral Centre of Greater Montréal, has been
financed by Loto-Québec from 1993 to 2001, and
since April 2001, by the ministère de la Santé et des
Services sociaux du Québec.
Gambling: help and referral offers information,
listening and support on compulsive gambling, as
well as referral to all available help in the field. The
helpline is available 24 hours a day and 7 days a
week, throughout Québec. The personnel responds
to several types of demands and needs: relevant
reflections on the caller’s gambling habits; support
and empathy in moments of great distress;
stabilization of callers before their referral to
resources specialized in crisis situations. The
anonymous and confidential nature of the
communications allows people to talk about their
difficulties without being afraid to be identified. In
fact, suffering, shame, despair, anxiety and
insecurity are often part of the caller’s burden.
An Advisory Committee of twelve people was set
up in 2006-2007 to make recommendations to the
Centre regarding Gambling: help and referral’s
mandate as requested by the ministère de la Santé et
des Services sociaux du Québec. This Advisory
Committee held two meetings this year. The
Committee looked into : the promotion of services
to people living difficulties related to their
gambling habits; the new assessment tools for
gamblers and the new telecounselling program for
gamblers managed by the Centre with the financial
support of the ministère de la Santé et des Services
sociaux du Québec.
This year, 6 872 people have contacted Gambling:
help and referral, of which 487 were anglophone
people. Between November 15th, 1993 and March
31st 2013, nearly 165 000 people turned to
Gambling: help and referral for help or
information.
Since January 2006, help is available online (in
French only for now) on the website of Gambling:
ANNUAL REPORT 2012-2013
Help and Referral, at www.jeu-aidereference.qc.ca
and this website has received this year 966 146 hits,
177 079 pages and 97 011 visits.
In 2012-2013, 86% of people called for themselves or
a loved one. 73% were concerned people for their
own gambling habits of which 30% were women
and 43% were men. Among the other calls, 7%
came from peers of a gambler (brother, sister, or
friend); 4% from spouses; 3% from parents; and
13% from field workers. Adults accounted for
95.2% of the callers, 3.8% were elderly people and
1% were from teenagers and children.
Requests can be divided in the following categories:
♦
Requests for listening and support from
gamblers themselves, their spouses, their
peers and parents (9% of calls);
♦
Requests for general information
compulsive gambling (40% of calls);
♦
Requests for therapy, counselling, selfsupport groups, or other related requests as
budgeting, family violence, substance
abuse or suicide (51% of calls).
on
Among the types of games mentioned most often
by callers were video-lotteries (62% of the
mentions), and poker (6%), the slot machines at the
casinos (8%), the lotteries (8%), which has increased
again this year.
As for the geographic origin of the
originate from Greater Montréal,
Montérégie, 8% from Québec area,
Outaouais, and 25% from the other
Québec.
calls, 52%
11% from
4% from
regions of
Concerning public relations activities, Gambling:
help and referral participated in 28 activities, four
of which were television or radio broadcasts. In
total, Gambling: help and referral was the subject
of 78 mentions in publications or media.
According to its mandate of referring to the
appropriate service, the helpline has directed 19
people with a complaint against organizations or
services to the appropriate authorities. In 20122013, our service was not the object of any
complaints.
The field of intervention for gambling is of great
interest for various researchers aiming to raise the
level of knowledge in the field. Our counsellors
participated in a training day at the Jeudis CDC, on
Motivational training and in a workshop held by
Sherbrooke University and the Association des
intervenants en toxicomanie du Québec : S’allier la
famille:: de la dépendance vers la compétence à être
ensemble.
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•
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Promotional campaigns:
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•
•
Provincial campaign with Cogeco MétroMédia
with advertising in buses of four targeted
regions
(Outaouais,
Laval,
Trois-Rivières,
Montérégie), winter of 2013;
Provincial campaigns with Cogeco MétroMédia
and Imagi on bus shelters in some of the largest
cities of the Province, winter of 2013;
A major promotional campaign was held by
PROCITÉ to reach 1 200 000 homes of the
Greater Montréal in the fall of 2012.
With its booth
• the Bar of Montréal - Salon Visez Droit, April 2012;
• Salon Ma Santé, April 2012
• Regroupement des organismes pour aînés et aînées du
Sud-Ouest de Montréal - Rendez-vous des Aînés,
May 2012 ;
• Ordre des Infirmières et Infirmiers du Québec –
Congrès annuel, October 2012;
• Conseil régional FTQ Montréal - 25e conférence
annuelle des délégués (es) sociaux, February 2013;
• Douglas Mental Health University Institute,
November 2012
• Fédération des travailleurs du Québec (FTQ) Conference nationale des Déléguées et Délégués
sociaux, December 2012;
• MultiCaf, February 2013;
• Salon Ma Santé, March 20-21, 2013.
Conferences
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•
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Centre de réadaptation en dépendances le Virage Colloque régional sur les dépendances « Voir
autrement, voir plus loin », May 2012;
Université Laval, Centre québécois d’excellence pour
la prévention et le traitement du jeu - formation sur
les stratégies motivationnelles pour susciter le
changement chez les joueurs pathologiques, May
2012 ;
Université Laval, Centre québécois d’excellence pour
la prévention et le traitement du je -, 3e édition du
Colloque sur les multiples facettes du jeu, mai 2012 ;
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Centre Dollard-Cormier - Journées de l’Institut,
June 2012 ;
Domrémy Mauricie et Centre-du-Québec - Journées
des Partenaires, June 2012 ;
Centre CASA-AITQ-Université de Sherbrooke Colloque sur l’identité professionnelle et personnelle
des intervenants en dépendances, September 2012 ;
European Association of Gambling Studies - 9th
European Conference on Gambling Studies and
Policies Issues, Loutraki, Greece, September
2012;
Association des Intervenants en Toxicomanie du
Québec - 40e Colloque « Théorie et pratique en
toxicomanie : le savoir-faire de l’intervenant »,
Trois-Rivières, October 2012;
Centre de réadaptation en dépendance de Laval Colloque « Parentalité et dépendance » November
2012;
Centre de Liaison sur l’intervention et la prévention
psychosociales (CLIPP) - Participation à la grande
rencontre sur l’innovation sociale, November 2012.
Publicity
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•
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Advertising insert of our Annual Report, 40th
Annual Conference of the Association des
Intervenants en toxicomanie du Québec, October
2012 ;
L’Intervenant, Magazine on alcoholism and
substance abuse, (4 issues) 2012-2013;
Magazine Le Point and Agenda le Point for school
administrations, September 2012;
IDCOM, Phone Directories and Yellow Pages;
More than twenty Agendas of different groups
and weeklies.
During the winter of 2013, the ministère de la Santé
et des Services sociaux and the Vice-Presidency for
Responsible Gambling of Loto-Québec launched
major multimedia campaigns to promote
awareness of excessive gambling and advertise
our service. We are grateful for these initiatives.
We wish to underline that Mrs. Hélène Hamel,
Coordinator, is a member of the planning
committee for 41st Conference of the Association des
Intervenants en toxicomanie du Québec which will take
place at the fall of 2013.
Our team of counselors collaborates regularly
with various universities on different research
projects concerning gambling.
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ONLINE REFERRAL
The ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux has
given Gambling: help and referral the required
financial support to operate an online referral
service since January 2006.
The website offers general information and online
help. As a first step, the user has to choose between
asking for help or asking for information. This
service is available not only to gamblers, but also to
their spouses and other members of their families,
their peers and to field workers.
We received 155 requests in 2012-2013. 63% were
preoccupied by their gambling habits: 16% of users
are women and 47% are men, 11% are spouses, 16%
are peers and 10% field workers. 2% of users are
teenagers and 3% are elderly people. As for the
geographic origin of the requests, we note a fair
representation of requests originating from Capitale
Nationale, Montérégie, Bas-Saint-Laurent, Mauricie
and Québec Centre, Outaouais, Laval ChaudièreAppalaches, Lanaudière, Laurentians and Montréal.
The requests for information and services are
referred to the appropriate resource in 81% of the
cases while the other demands are solved directly
by our counsellors.
TELECOUNSELLING
With the financial support of the ministère de la
Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec, the Centre
has set up in 2012-2013 a telecounselling service.
Thirty-eight persons with gambling problems
participated in short term therapy over the phone.
The first participants were recruited at the end of
the summer of 2012 and the program will continue
in 2013-2014.
In 2006, the ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux
du Québec had already given the Centre the
mandate to explore telecounselling through a pilot
project. The results of this first experience had
clearly showed a real positive potential for the short
term therapeutic impact of such a service. To serve
the whole province of Québec with one main
telephone service seemed not only realistic; it was
also very well received by the population.
This free short term telecounselling program – of
which Mr. Jacques Ducharme is the clinical
supervisor - reaches out to a to a great variety of
persons
in
terms
of
sociodemographic
characteristics.
The program includes an evaluation telephone
interview and six telephone sessions of one hour
each on the following topics: motivation, finances,
erroneous beliefs, triggers, reorganize one’s life,
stay the course, as well as three follow-ups at
various intervals. The recruiting of participants is
done through the Gambling: help and referral
team.
Day after day since November 15, 1993, the
Information and Referral Centre of Greater
Montréal takes up the challenge: to manage a 24/7
service which responds to the needs of people
having a problem with compulsive gambling as
well as their relatives. The Centre insures that it
operates within strict financial parameters. An
updated data bank, as extensive and reliable as
possible, keeps up with the development of public
and private resources for people having problems
with compulsive gambling. For twelve years now,
free services are available for gamblers and their
peers. The personnel at Gambling: help and
referral makes sure that these services are well
known throughout the Province. For nearly twenty
years, we have pursued this objective: to offer a
reliable and quality service of information, referral
and support to the Québec population in that field.
We will continue to do all we can to justify the trust
of the public and of our sponsors who have
supported us since the inception of this service.
Gambling: Help and Referral
514 527-0140
1 800 461 0140
1 866 SOS JEUX
Fax: (514) 527-9712
Help online: (in French only)
www.jeu-aidereference.qc.ca
Pierrette Gagné
Executive Director
[email protected]
Monique Cantin
Director of Communications
[email protected]
Hélène Hamel
Coordinator
[email protected]
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GAMBLING: HELP AND REFERRAL
STATISTICAL REPORT 2012-2013
SOURCE OF ENQUIRIES
Associations
Colleges, Schools, Universities
Communications Media
Industry, Commerce
Labor & Union
Parapublic services
CLSC
Private agencies
Professional persons
Individuals:
Men
Women
Parents
Peers
Spouses
Public services
Religious organizations
2 923
2 049
211
449
300
20
1
TOTAL
6 872
TYPE OF CONTACT
20
56
44
411
8
58
27
157
138
Telephone calls
Email
6 731
141
TOTAL
6 872
AGE CATEGORIES
Adults
Children
Senior citizens
Teens
TOTAL
6 540
1
262
69
6 872
GEOGRAPHIC REGION
Region Bas-Saint-Laurent
Region Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
Region Capitale Nationale
Regions Mauricie and Québec Centre
Region Estrie
Region Montréal
Region Outaouais
Region Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Region Côte-Nord
Region Nord-du-Québec
Region Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine
Region Chaudière-Appalaches
Region Laval
Region Lanaudière
Region Laurentides
Region Montérégie
Others
TOTAL
6 872
TYPE OF GAMBLING
Video Lottery Terminal (VLT)
In Bars
1 449
In Ludoplex
10
Bingo
16
Casino:
Crap Games
22
Slot machines
186
Table Games (Black Jack, Roulette,
Baccarat)
63
Poker
59
Cyberdependency
Internet (chat, shopping, stock, etc.) 45
Online Gambling
50
Poker
51
Electronic Games
37
Online games
82
Horse races
4
Lottery
181
Poker
36
Pool betting on sports
24
Others
28
TOTAL
87
113
525
224
162
3 601
252
55
46
15
28
111
212
198
396
786
61
2 343
TYPE OF ENQUIRIES
Complaints against services
Counselling
General Information:
Codependency
19
39
54
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Gamblers’ Profile
Gambling
Gambling: Help and Referral
Prevention
Self-Exclusion
In-patient Therapy:
Parapublic services
Private services
Listening and support
Out-patient therapy:
Parapublic services
Private services
Telecounselling
Relapse
Social Reintegration
Support group:
Gamblers
Parents
Spouses and Peers
Related requests:
Budget counselling
Crisis management
Drug addiction
Legal services
Mental Health
Shelters
Suicide
Violence
Other requests
TOTAL
167
121
4 184
137
99
FOLLOW-UP CALLS
Additionnal communications
with Clients
for research and update
9
37
185
205
1 106
TOTAL
46
1 568
218
77
42
5
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Information sessions
(attendance : 8 people)
Meetings and seminars
Radio, TV
695
113
353
TOTAL
1
23
4
28
174
103
132
29
137
50
84
41
1 715
11 852
TYPE OF REFERRALS
Directed to appropriate resource
Referral calls by our staff
Service rendered without Referrals
Services required insufficient
TOTAL
6 239
2
5 610
1
11 852
5