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Category: Project

Description: Background: This project is part of a programme of work that seeks to understand the need for different types of support and treatment for gambling problems in England. To do this, we plan to use data from the Health Survey for England (HSE), which contains questions about gambling participation, scores on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI), and other questions about mental health and wellbeing, for a representative sample of the population. However, as yet, there are no national guidelines outlining principles for treatment need. Therefore, the aim of this specific study is to seek the opinions of people who provide treatment for gambling problems regarding what broad types of support would be suitable for different types of people on the basis of information that is available in the HSE, namely problem gambling severity, and other indicators such as mental health symptoms. Methods: This is a pre-registered study that uses adapted and simplified E-Delphi consensus survey methods. People who provide treatment and support for gambling problems (stakeholders), working across the sector in England and internationally, will be asked to complete up to two rounds of a consensus survey. In the first round, they will indicate their opinions regarding who should receive different types of treatment / support (ranging from least to most intensive), on the basis of problem gambling severity and other indicators including mental and physical health. For each indicator and type of treatment, consensus threshold will be achieved if at least 70% of the panel are in agreement. In the second round of the survey, participants will repeat this survey albeit only for indicators and treatment types that reached between 31% and 69% consensus in the first round. Participants will be invited to reconsider their judgments on the basis of the level of agreement in the first round, in anticipation that providing this summary feedback will increase the level of consensus for at least some indicators and types of treatment. Discussion: Findings from the study will inform modelling of the need for different types of treatment / support for gambling problems in England using data from the Health Survey for England. They will also be disseminated to stakeholders and written-up for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.