There has only been a recent focus on women in the gambling industry, although Gordon Moody has taken steps to ensure that support can be reached by everyone.
By Megan Elswyth
Gordon Moody has published results on its latest residential programme for women experiencing gambling-related harm.
Following growing calls for support for women in the gambling space, Gordon Moody did a small pilot study before launching the full residential programme last year in the West Midlands.
The residential programme consists of six weeks, along with treatment support both before and afterwards.
There is also step-down support with recovery housing before the person can return to living independently.
During the residential treatment programme, women can attend group and individual therapy sessions including cognitive-behavioural therapy, motivational interviewing, interpersonal group therapy and art therapy.
GambleAware reported that 35% of callers to the National Gambling Helpline are women, 23% of which are calling about their own gambling habits.
A total of 68 women attended the full residential treatment programme, with an average age of 43.1 years old, although the total range was between 21 and 64.
On entering the programme, the women were evaluated using the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) and the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation (CORE-10).
The PGSI scores dropped from an average of 21.2 to 5.9 after treatment, with the score remaining at 5.9 three months later.
The CORE-10 scores, which scores psychological distress, dropped from an average of 18.8 to 8.9 after the programme, although this rose back to 13.1 after three months.
As for the clinical thresholds, 80% of women scored the threshold for anxiety and 78% for depression, which fell to 44% and 48% respectively.
Out of the 68 women who signed up, 87% completed the entire residential programme.
Three did not complete the assessment week, five dropped out during treatment and one was discharged by mutual agreement.
Although all women scored high in risk on the PGSI before treatment, half of them showed no gambling behaviours after six months and 13% were classed as no risk.
As such, Gordon Moody has declared that: “Participating in this programme reduces the level of gambling severity and levels of anxiety and depression, and improves psychological wellbeing, in women suffering from gambling harm.”
On the topic of responsible gambling, the dates for Safer Gambling Week 2024 have been released.