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International Think Tank on Presenting Gambling Populations and First Contact Services Newsletter Number 2: December 2004 ADVANCE NOTICE 2nd Meeting of the International Think Tank on Presenting Populations and First Contact Services and International Gambling Conference 25 - 27 May 2005* Auckland, New Zealand *Provisional date Welcome to the second Think Tank newsletter. This edition includes a brief update of the Treatment and Services subgroup meeting held on 10 November 2004, Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia. The meeting was held immediately prior to the 14th annual NAGS conference. Acknowledgement The venue for the Think Tank subgroup meeting and all conference facilities were kindly organised and funded by the Queensland Office of Gaming Regulation, Queensland Government Treasury. Participants Present at the meeting were representatives from New Zealand, Australia and the USA. New Zealand Australia USA Max Abbott Maria Bellringer Gary Clifford Clare Docherty Debbie Edwards Ralph Gerdelan Sean Sullivan Philip Townshend Leigh Barrett Andrea Brebner Angus Forbes Bill Horman Jan McMillen Leonie Middleton Jane Oakes Eric Tyssen Susan Munro James Westphal Content Following a welcome given by Max Abbott and Gary Clifford and a recap of the Auckland 2004 Think Tank meeting, the day progressed with presentations followed by discussions around the presentations and related issues. The presentations were: Title Presenter(s) A treatment package using targeted information, in vivo desensitisation and biofeedback systems for gamblers Philip Townshend Should a clinical trials network for gambling treatments be developed? James Westphal and Jane Oakes Helpline assessment/integrated care/audiovisual support Gary Clifford The ClubCare NZ example Gary Clifford and Ralph Gerdelan The PowerPoint presentation given by James Westphal and Jane Oakes is available for those who are interested. Please Email Maria Bellringer (maria.bellringer@aut.ac.nz) if you would like a copy. Key Points The key discussion points focused around: Treatments and the components of treatment What could be gained by the formation of a network with international collaborations A single site randomised controlled trial (clinical treatment programme) is scheduled to take place in Queensland (in collaboration with Turning Point) over a three year period Merits of setting up a multi-site clinical trials network Interface with industry is important Key Actions Consider the different therapies that may be ready (or could soon be ready) to join a multi-site clinical trials network This process will need a discussion document to get things moving and which can be reported upon at the 2nd Think Tank meeting in May 2005. Specific proposals for a multi-site clinical trials network should be invited before May and the relevant governments who are likely to fund the work should be involved. Please advise if you would like to help with this initiative, including development of the discussion document. Data collection systems It is important to be able to make comparisons across jurisdictions regarding data collected from problem gamblers. Treatment providers (including helplines) often collect information for their own purposes. A decision needs to be made regarding what data should be collected to enable cross-jurisdictional comparisons. New Zealand has a data set, as does Victoria. General population surveys do not have a large enough sample of problem gamblers to enable statistically valid mining for information. Should common screens and measures (e.g. across comorbidities) be used across jurisdictions? This would enable large enough samples for drilling down for further information. Please advise if you would like to help with this initiative. Use of helpline data Helpline data could be used to look for patterns, and changes in patterns, in problem gambling behaviour. The problem is that different helplines collect different client data and the quality of data collected is varied. The helpline network website will be live soon. Please contact Gary Clifford for more details (gary.clifford@gamblingproblem.co.nz). Please advise if you would like to help with this initiative. REQUEST: A budget will be required for the three action points detailed - this will need to be disseminated to the policy makers and governments so they can build the work into their funding strategies. Please advise if you would like to help with this initiative. Think Tank Subgroups Treatment and Services Subgroup Please inform Maria Bellringer if you would like to be involved in one or more of the three action areas detailed. Research Subgroup Max Abbott and Masood Zangeneh are taking a lead with this subgroup. Further information will be disseminated as and when available. Policy and Public Health Subgroup A leader(s) is required for this subgroup. If you would like to contribute to the leadership of a subgroup/action area please inform Maria Bellringer in the first instance. An updated table of subgroup members is detailed in Appendix 1. Please inform Maria Bellringer if you would like to be added or removed from any of these lists. Also, please advise if there are other people who you believe could make a constructive contribution to the Think Tank and one or more of its subgroups. Las Vegas Meeting At the beginning of December, Max Abbott and other Think Tank participants including Jeff Derevensky, Adrian Scarfe, James Westphal and Rachel Volberg (apologies if we have forgotten anyone) attended a meeting in Las Vegas. The main focus of the meeting was the issues surrounding definition and measurement of problem gambling; also visited was the design of a national UK prospective study of gambling and problem gambling. Review of Research on Aspects of Problem Gambling For a majority of 2004, Max Abbott, Rachel Volberg and Maria Bellringer, together with Gerda Reith from the University of Glasgow were involved in conducting a review of research on aspects of problem gambling for the Responsibility in Gambling Trust, United Kingdom. The full report and a much shorter summary version are both available on the Responsibility in Gambling Trust's website at http://www.rigt.org.uk/research.asp.       IMPORTANT NOTICE       Think Tank Meeting and Conference May 2005 The second Think Tank meeting follows on from and builds upon the successful first International Think Tank on Presenting Gambling Populations and First Contact Services which was held in Auckland, New Zealand in May 2004. At the first Think Tank meeting, participants agreed that the second meeting would be held 12 months later (i.e., May 2005) in Auckland. The purpose of this Think Tank is to address globally significant issues and developments in problem gambling policy, services and research in relation to presenting gambling populations and first contact services. The ultimate aim is to contribute to the development of an international public health agenda on gambling. All three working domains agreed at the first Think Tank meeting will be featured. These are: Research Treatment and Services Policy and Public Health A focus will be to further mobilise each of the three domains by identifying and documenting key issues, deciding on research and project priorities and coordinating an internationally collaborative plan of action. The Think Tank will take place on 25 and 26 May 2005 and will be followed by a one day international gambling conference on 27 May 2005 (provisional date). Post-conference workshops will be held on 28 May 2005 (provisional date). For further information and/or if you would like to be involved in the May 2005 Think Tank meeting, please contact Maria Bellringer. And Finally... Max Abbott, Gary Clifford and Maria Bellringer wish you all the season's greetings and very best wishes for the New Year ... and we look forward to seeing some of you again in May 2005. APPENDIX I: Think Tank Working Groups: Interested Participants Research Leaders: Max Abbott and Masood Zangeneh Phillida Bunkle Andrew Duncan Linda Hancock John Lepper Jan McMillen Richard Tan Tony Carr Debbie Edwards Nerilee Hing Charles Livingstone Tracy Schrans Rachel Volberg Vivian Cheung Sitaleki Finau Nemu Lallu John Markland Sean Sullivan Masood Zangeneh Treatment/Services Patrick Au Vincent Burke Debbie Edwards Linda Hancock Lynette Hutson John Lepper Leonie Middleton Campbell Roberts Richard Tan Barbara van der Spuy Leigh Barrett Vivian Cheung Krista Ferguson John Hannifin Pefi Kingi John Markland Jane Oakes Adrian Scarfe Phil Townshend Jim Westphal Andrea Brebner Andrew Duncan Angus Forbes Bill Horman Nemu Lallu Jan McMillen Cynthia Orme Sean Sullivan Eric Tyssen Policy and Public Health Phillida Bunkle Lorna Dyall Sitaleki Finau John Hannifin Nemu Lallu Dave Macpherson Graeme Minchin John Raeburn John Stansfield Rachel Volberg Vincent Burke Debbie Edwards Ralph Gerdelan Nerilee Hing Paul Lavulo John Markland Richard Northey Campbell Roberts Elizabeth Stevenson John Wong Vivian Cheung Krista Ferguson Linda Hancock Carolyn Hobson John Lepper Jan McMillen Roger Parton Tracy Schrans Richard Tan Nick Xenophon