Session Title

Poster Session

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Location

Park MGM, Las Vegas, NV

Start Date

24-5-2023 10:30 AM

End Date

24-5-2023 11:15 AM

Disciplines

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

In 2011 the Massachusetts Expanded Gaming Act allowed for the development of casinos while building in protections for people who gamble. These protections included a Voluntary Self Exclusion (VSE) program and the creation of GamesSense Information Centers staffed by independent GameSense Advisors (GSA’s). GSA’s receive extensive training in the areas of RG and Gambling Disorder and also conduct VSE’s. Since 2018 GSA’s have conducted over 1000 VSE’s and have offered referrals to treatment and self-help to those individuals making the decision to self exclude. In 2019 the MACGH introduced Telephone Recovery Support (TRS) as an additional resource to offer to those people who choose to self-exclude. TRS is an peer-to-peer support service originally designed for use in drug and alcohol recovery. In the TRS model, a peer in recovery makes weekly calls to “check in” on the recoveree. Recoverees are offered support; encouragement and information about resources that may help them seek or maintain recovery and later surveyed about the impact of TRS. The results have been very positive and we believe that this is a model that support early behavior change among participant’s looking to stop or reduce problematic gambling behaviors.

Keywords

Recovery, Voluntary Self Exclusion, Peer Support

Author Bios

Odessa Dwarika, M.A., CTRP

Odessa is the Chief of Programs at the MACGH. Odessa has 25 years of experience in public health and oversees training, technical assistance, and capacity building efforts throughout the continuum of care for disordered gambling and gaming. She embraces resilience focused approaches to addressing addiction with an eye to the traumagenic systems that create conditions of illness. Odessa is a graduate of Brandeis University and received her Master’s in Intercultural Relations from Lesley University.

Funding Sources

Our work is funded by the Massachusetts's Gaming Commission. This is a program and not a research project but, regardless, they had no involvement in the evaluation aspect of this project.

Competing Interests

None.

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May 24th, 10:30 AM May 24th, 11:15 AM

Integrating Recovery Supports into Voluntary Self Exclusion

Park MGM, Las Vegas, NV

In 2011 the Massachusetts Expanded Gaming Act allowed for the development of casinos while building in protections for people who gamble. These protections included a Voluntary Self Exclusion (VSE) program and the creation of GamesSense Information Centers staffed by independent GameSense Advisors (GSA’s). GSA’s receive extensive training in the areas of RG and Gambling Disorder and also conduct VSE’s. Since 2018 GSA’s have conducted over 1000 VSE’s and have offered referrals to treatment and self-help to those individuals making the decision to self exclude. In 2019 the MACGH introduced Telephone Recovery Support (TRS) as an additional resource to offer to those people who choose to self-exclude. TRS is an peer-to-peer support service originally designed for use in drug and alcohol recovery. In the TRS model, a peer in recovery makes weekly calls to “check in” on the recoveree. Recoverees are offered support; encouragement and information about resources that may help them seek or maintain recovery and later surveyed about the impact of TRS. The results have been very positive and we believe that this is a model that support early behavior change among participant’s looking to stop or reduce problematic gambling behaviors.