Source: New Zealand Ministry of Health
This research examines how gambling help-seeking is defined, measured and enacted across a wide range if behaviours and supports. It captures how people experiencing gambling harm and professionals conceptualise help-seeking. Brief and comprehensive measures of help-seeking were developed and tested, and the full range of services, supports and strategies that people use were documented.
A panel of 514 adults in New Zealand and Australia tested a new Gambling Help-Seeking Assessment Tool (GHAT). The quota approach ensured that 75% of respondents had a self-reported previous or current issue with gambling, and 25% self-reported they had gambled in the past 12 months but did not have a previous or current issue with their gambling. All participants had gambled in the previous year.
Age quotas specified that at least 10% of respondents were aged 18–34 years and at least 10% were aged 65 years or older. Ethnicity quotas were set to ensure at least 10% of participants identified as Māori, 10% as Pacific, and 10% as Asian.
The results showed that people identified many different forms of help for gambling harm. These included professional care from health practitioners, crisis lines, mental health and addiction services, medical providers, and practical supports such as financial counselling and workplace assistance.
Community, cultural, and peer connections were also named, spanning family, friends, peers with lived experience, church leaders, marae, iwi, and online networks. Others used self-directed help, such as information-based resources like websites and apps, and personal strategies such as mindfulness, exercise, stress management, and self-exclusion.
Overall, the study found that 97.1% of participants reported at least one help-seeking action in the past year, showing that help-seeking is widespread, multifaceted, and often informal or self-directed.
The findings also suggest value in testing a brief version of GHAT (two questions) in routine care across primary care, mental health, allied health, and alcohol and other drug services. Incorporating the GHAT at service entry could provide a consistent way to start conversations about gambling, enabling services to learn what types of support people have already tried and what might be helpful next.
