Abstract
Few studies have examined the prevalence of problem and pathological gambling among clients of homeless service agencies. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of problem gambling among these clients. We collected primary data on gambling using the NORC diagnostic screen for disorders. Using a modified time-location recruitment approach 264 clients of a community homeless service agency were screened for lifetime gambling problems. Descriptive statistics were produced using SPSSX. The prevalence of lifetime problem gambling was 10 % and that of pathological gambling was 25 % in this sample. The prevalence of lifetime problem and pathological gambling was alarmingly high relative to the general population lifetime prevalence. Better insight into interventions for gambling that might reduce risk of homelessness will help service agencies gauge the needs of their clients and to implement change to service delivery and screening practices.
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Acknowledgments
The research team is indebted to the staff and clients at the Good Shepherd Centre. The clients who gave their time improved our understanding of the extent to which gambling affects their lives. The Good Shepherd staff opened their doors and their hearts to us; as a result we have a strong partnership with a community agency that provides essential services for homeless men. Their expert advice on their clients and on how best to reach out to them greatly informed our recruitment strategy and research design and facilitated data collection. The Centre for Research on Inner City Health (CRICH) is part of the Keenan Research Centre in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital. This work was funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) Applied Health Research Questions initiative. The opinions, results and conclusions reported in this paper are those of the authors and are independent from the funding sources. No endorsement by Ontario MOHLTC is intended or should be inferred.
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Matheson, F.I., Devotta, K., Wendaferew, A. et al. Prevalence of Gambling Problems Among the Clients of a Toronto Homeless Shelter. J Gambl Stud 30, 537–546 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-014-9452-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-014-9452-7