PROBLEM GAMBLING COUNSELLING AT FAMILY SERVICE CENTRES

PROBLEM GAMBLING COUNSELLING AT FAMILY SERVICE CENTRES

20.

Assoc. Prof. Kalyani K Mehta asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) what is the breakdown on the total number of clients counselled for problem gambling by the Family Service Centres by age group, gender, marital status and income over the past 2 years as well as the success rate; and (b) whether foreign workers are eligible for counselling if they have gambling problems.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: MCYS has set up two pilot specialist centres operated by Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society and Care Corner Counselling Centre to provide intervention services for problem gamblers and their families. The pilot centres started operations in September 2006.

They form the second tier of a three tier system. The first tier consists of detection and referrals from 'ground' organisations like the family service centres (FSCs) and CDCs. The third tier covers medical and psychiatric treatment at the Institute of Mental Health under the Community Addictions and Management Programme (or CAMP for short) for those with multiple addictions or severe gambling addictions.

As the two specialist centres have been set up, we do not track problem gambling cases at FSCs. We are tracking the two pilot centres instead. Over a one year period from September 2006 to September 2007, the two centres saw a total of 190 problem gamblers. The majority of the cases, or 93%, were male. Of the 190 cases, 58% of them were married. Also, 42% were between 30 and 39 years old, and the next largest age group are those between 40 and 49 years old, at 18%. In terms of income profile, 35% of the cases earned a monthly income of $2,000 to $2,999 and another 20% earned between $1,000 and $1,999.

Out of the cases that have ended their treatment, the centres reported that about one-third successfully completed treatment. The remaining cases did not return to the centres to receive further help, or felt that they no longer needed counselling. This indeed is a challenge faced in addiction intervention work. The National Council on Problem Gambling and the Institute of Mental Health are working with the recently appointed International Advisory Panel of gambling addiction experts to enhance counselling and treatment for problem gamblers and their families.

Foreigners living and working here may also approach the pilot specialist centres for help if they have a gambling problem.