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Prevention of Problem Gambling
September 1998, Vol I, Issue 5

*A Monthly Newsletter on Problem Gambling Prevention Information, Research, and Initiatives*

"No progress has ever been made against an epidemic by treating only the casualties."

COMPREHENSIVE PREVETION PLANNING:MULTIPLE STRATEGIES

Successful prevention planning typically utilizes multiple strategies and practices. When working with a community or group, it is important to reach constituents within that community with several strategies from each of six categories:

Information and awareness strategies: pamphlets, posters, public service

announcements, billboards, newsletters, etc.

Education and skill development: professional development seminars for teachers, training of youth service workers, life skills training, gambling module in a health curriculum, etc.

Alternative activities: offering social and recreational activities in place of gambling.

Community development, capacity building and institutional change: engaging a community in a gambling reduction prevention plan, training of trainers, policy and programmatic review of an organization which leads to implementation of changes, etc.

Public social policy: developing and implementing a gambling policy at a school, legislative advocacy, better enforcement of under age access laws, etc.

Intervention strategies for those at high risk: programs developed by and for an at-risk population such as athletes, development of policies and procedures for referring first time offenders of school gambling policy, etc.

Early in a prevention effort the focus must be on information and education as the community may not be aware of the issue. This is true of the gambling issue today. Much of the public is still unaware of the personal and social costs of problem gambling. For example, it would be difficult to increase the capacity of guidance counselors to intervene with high-risk students when they have little to no knowledge of the gambling issues that exist for adolescents.

Not all strategies have the same impact on attitudinal and behavioral change. Several studies have shown that information alone rarely leads to behavioral change. Education and skill development take information and awareness one step further, particularly if the education and skill development programs are long term, involve opportunities for the participants to practice the skills, and integrate them into their lives. Thus, the first two strategies lay the groundwork for attitude and behavior change.

Alternative activities may have a higher impact on attitudinal and behavioral change if the target population is involved as an equal partner from the beginning planning stages and experiences ownership in the process. Most often, however, programs are developed for a particular population rather than by or with that population. How many programs for teenagers, for example, actually involve the youth in the planning of these programs?

The last three strategies have proven to lead to a higher degree of behavioral or attitudinal change due to the more focused nature of the intervention and the active participation of the identified population. These strategies work towards strengthening the individual and decreasing dependence on harmful behaviors.

Higher impact strategies are often difficult to implement without community support. This again underscores the need for awareness and educational strategies. Successful prevention efforts attempt to build a foundation of awareness and then continue to build upon that foundation with higher impact strategies. Clearly, the first step is to raise awareness of the issue of concern while collaborating with identified community members and others to set up longer-range strategies.

In future newsletters, we will discuss in more detail the use of the six prevention strategies and introduce best practices.