WASHINGTON – Health care providers who specialize in addiction face a host of challenges in their clinical practice, including growing pressure from insurers and the government to use evidence-based treatment practices. Because some clinicians may not screen for gambling disorders in their patient assessments, the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) today released the seventh volume of Increasing the Odds: A Series Dedicated to Understanding Gambling Disorders, an essential training guide necessary for any clinician to recognize, understand and treat gambling disorders. The NCRG’s monograph series provides easy-to-understand summaries of seminal peer-reviewed research on gambling disorders, as well as implications for future research and prevention efforts.
“The on-going national focus on both quality and efficiency of care demands that clinicians utilize quality, evidence-based information on clinical issues in their treatment protocols.” said Alan Feldman, chairman of the NCRG and senior vice president of public affairs for MGM Resorts International. “This edition of Increasing the Odds was designed to be a comprehensive toolkit for any clinician, whether they see clients with addictions or not, to use in their daily practice to better understand and treat gambling disorders.”
Titled “What Clinicians Need to Know about Gambling Disorders,” this publication covers the entire scope of the issue and gives the resources to apply the research findings in clinical settings. It includes in-depth research summaries from:
- Nathan Smith, NCRG, on psychosocial and neurobiological factors in the development of gambling disorders
- Ken C. Winters, Ph.D., and Randy Stinchfield, Ph.D., L.P., University of Minnesota Medical School, on the latest findings on youth gambling
- Dr. Stinchfield on the available instruments for identifying and diagnosing a gambling disorder
- Jon E. Grant, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., University of Chicago, and Brian Odlaug, M.P.H., University of Chicago and University of Copenhagen on the latest treatment outcomes using psychosocial interventions
- Marc Potenza, M.D., Ph.D., on the emerging research on drug treatments for gambling disorders.
An additional online component of this Increasing the Odds edition is the inclusion of the many brief screens and assessment instruments for gambling disorders available on the NCRG’s website.
To download a free copy of Increasing the Odds and view the assessment instruments, visit the NCRG website, www.ncrg.org/resources/publications/monographs. The first six volumes of the series, which address topics such as gambling and the brain, youth and gambling, the various aspects of gambling addiction recovery, gambling and public health and self-exclusion programs, are also available on the website. To request a hard copy of the seventh volume of Increasing the Odds, contact Amy Kugler at 202-552-2689 or akugler@ncrg.org.
For more information on the NCRG, visit www.ncrg.org. To stay up-to-date on year-round educational opportunities and the latest news and issues in the field, visit the NCRG’s blog – Gambling Disorders 360° – and connect with the NCRG on Facebook and Twitter.
