Our Model of Care
The National Gambling Helpline
GamCare operates the National Gambling Helpline funded by GambleAware. We provide one-to-one information, advice and support for anyone affected by gambling – the gambler themselves as well as others who may be affected or impacted, such as family and friends.
Our Advisers are available 24 hours a day. The team provide a range of brief and extended brief interventions to callers, including call backs to callers where appropriate. Advisers also moderate our online group chatrooms and provide support to our online Forum community, where more than 30,000 people contribute their experiences to seek support for themselves and give support to others.
GamCare Treatment Services
GamCare also provides a range of treatment for those affected by problem gambling, funded by GambleAware. We have treatment locations in London, and we work with a network of partner agencies across England, Scotland and Wales who we train to deliver this free, specialist service. We work individually and in groups, and provide services face to face, online or over the telephone. Where appropriate we make links with other local services to provide the best support to meet the client’s needs.
A Recovery Based Approach
A fundamental part of our approach is the belief that for someone who has experienced gambling problems, successful, sustained behaviour change is significantly helped by putting into practice the skills learnt within a supportive network. This means providing ways for people to build their networks to sustain their goals long after treatment has ended.
A recovery focus builds on the individual’s strengths, instilling hope that change is possible, increasing their positive identity of themselves, and their mastery of their own life.
Service User Choice
GamCare ensures that service users can make informed choices regarding the range of options open to them at every step of their treatment journey. The service user’s goals and decisions are central to the care plan. Our aim is to give service users healthier options regarding how they respond to situations and their internal triggers to gambling.
Evidence Based Practice
Our interventions are based on well researched ways of working, primarily that the gambling provides a function in the person’s life. Utilising a cognitive behavioural approach, we focus on goal setting, the identification of internal and external triggers, relapse prevention and management and the identification of alternatives to gambling. The use of opportunities to develop and practice skills is integral to this approach.
We encourage support from family members, as well as providing support to family members in their own right. All of this is underpinned by a motivational way of working within a recovery model.
Safe, Effective Services
We work within a robust governance framework to ensure the delivery of safe, effective services. Our priority is the safeguarding of our service users, their families and others who may be vulnerable to harm because of problem gambling.
All engagement with service users is driven towards helping them to achieve their desired outcomes. Our governance processes define and manage an agreed set of quality indicators and outcome measures against which we benchmark the effectiveness of our services through audit.
Stepped Care
It is important that we provide our service users with the right level of care for their needs. This ensures that we maximize the impact of the resources available to us, and ensures we neither under-treat, nor over-treat.
Our service offers both low- and high- intensity courses of treatment through a stepped-care model of service delivery. At the point of delivery, the steps are seamless to the service user. We aim to offer the right service at the right time.
