UK Government Outlines Who May Benefit from Gambling Addiction Treatment

The majority of people who are in this group would benefit from level 2 intensity treatment the government argues, or some 970,000 people. This means that the people in question would benefit from two or three sessions of motivational interviewing which is administered by gambling specialists.

Treatment Levels Vary By Intensity, But They Do Have an Effect

Some 243,000 adults, though, would need a level 4 intensity treatment, the government specifies, as this is designed to be a far more comprehensive and demanding treatment course with 8 to 14 sessions which are administered by cognitive behavioral therapy psychologists, who specialize in gambling disorder.

Furthermore, another 40,000 individuals would need a 12-week residential treatment program, which is the most intensive form of care. There is no exact way to tell which people will benefit from what program exactly, as practitioners must also play a role in deciding, but the government’s estimates offer robust guidance.  

The data was commissioned by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and conducted by the University of Sheffield and the University of Glasgow. It’s an interesting research and approach, as it directly seeks to quantify how many people would benefit from treatment.

Not only that but owing to this data, government and industry groups can calculate the costs of such interventions. Although the exact costs of these sessions are not exactly established, they would give the government a rough estimate of what is needed to address the issue.

Of course, if people are actively receiving treatment, they would have to be followed up to see if the treatment was efficient. There are several reasons to be optimistic, however, as GambleAware recently shared its optimism that interventions are having a positive impact.

Focus the Funds Where They Are Needed the Most

This means that treatment and interventions are efficient even if they cost money. Then again, there is the proposed rise of a gambling levy that would go directly to charities and treatment service providers, designed to ensure that individuals who need gambling treatment get it.

More importantly, UKGC’s latest data will allow the efforts to be focused. Earlier interventions and treatments to more people are more cost-efficient it seems, and they may even be administered in groups.

As GambleAware found out, treatment helps 9 out of 10 people, so all the more reason to seek and ensure that these solutions reach people.