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Prevention of Problem Gambling
July 1998, Vol I, Issue 3

*A Monthly Newsletter on Problem Gambling Prevention Information, Research, and Initiatives*

"No progress has ever been made against an epidemic by treating only the casualties."

STATEWIDE PREVETION PLANS

The Connecticut Compulsive Gambling Treatment Program has taken significant steps to address the issue of the prevention of problem gambling in Connecticut.

Central to this initiative has been the creation of a comprehensive statewide prevention plan. A description of the developmental process may be helpful to other states and communities interested in developing prevention plans.

The creation of the plan had three primary components:

surveying existing problem gambling prevention resources in the United States and Canada;

convening multiple focus groups for input into the plan;

developing goals and objectives that utilize the six essential prevention strategies which include the best practices in prevention research, program delivery, and on-going evaluation.

The few problem gambling prevention resources that were found in the survey were incorporated into the plan.

The focus groups permitted information gathering from a broad cross-section of the population. The goals were to determine the public's perception of problem gambling, what populations needed to be specifically addressed, what resources currently existed, and what strategies would be most helpful in the focus group's locations.

Through this process several prevention plan objectives were created to address key strategies:

increasing awareness and information dissemination
enhancing education and skills
creating alternative activities
enlarging community capacity
empowering institutional change
fashioning public and social policy initiatives
developing intervention strategies for those at high risk.

Additional objectives were developed regarding prevention research and evaluation. All of the objectives were scrutinized to insure that the latest prevention research and technology had been incorporated.

A central component of the plan is working to create partnerships to prevent problem gambling. For example, training is currently being provided collaboratively with youth-serving and substance abuse organizations. Additionally, the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling provided input into the Connecticut plan and is collaborating in its implementation.

Currently the plan is empowering Connecticut by providing a framework for statewide prevention initiatives. In Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling is in the midst of this developmental process. The statewide problem gambling prevention plan will be completed by November.