In March 2006 the Ministry contracted for services to provide a better understanding of the range of treatment approaches used in New Zealand, and whom they are effective for. This project aimed to:
- identify different problem gambling intervention services that are representative of the range of services in New Zealand
- analyse the range of tasks and therapeutic techniques undertaken by practitioners in problem gambling services
- identify important features of these problem gambling intervention services as perceived by clients (people who gamble, and their family/whänau)
- explore differences, in terms of perceived effectiveness, between clients who attend one session only, and clients who attend three or more sessions
- assess the effectiveness of two interventions (broadly representing intervention services in New Zealand)
- assess whether these interventions are effective in controlling gambling behaviours, and reducing the harm caused by problem gambling
- quantify the effectiveness, and relative effectiveness, of the interventions
- provide preliminary information on the relative effectiveness of the interventions for ethnic groups (NZ European, Maori, Pacific and Asian).