Assessment

Support Worker

A new resident starts by having a few days in which to settle into their room, see the doctor and claim Incapacity Benefit and Housing Benefit whilst gathering their belongings and dealing with any urgent personal matters. A member of staff is allocated as this client's 'support worker' and ensures that they, or someone deputising for them, sees the client on a 'one-to-one' basis at least once a week, but more often if appropriate. Initially these meetings concentrate on ensuring the client settles in and practical matters are addressed, thereafter these meetings are used to see if needs are being met and aims achieved and any pressing issues brought to that meeting by the resident are addressed.

Money

Money is the 'substance' to a gambling addict's addiction and therefore, initially, residents allow staff to handle their cash for them. As clients become stronger, and put other support networks in place, financial responsibility is handed back to them.

Life Audit

As soon as is appropriate and convenient, normally between 7 and 10 days, each individual completes a 'Life Audit'. The Audit is undertaken with a senior therapist and the support worker. It examines, in detail, 9 aspects of the individual's previous life and future aspirations.

Physical health,
Emotional health,
Beliefs and Values,
Social life,
Relationships,
Family Issues,
Legal & Financial,
Education and Career history,
Gambling History.

Life Audits are completed at one 'sitting', unless this proves to be too much for the client due to their emotional state or intellectual ability, as the state of high emotional arousal and engagement necessary to best complete this exercise can be lost if interrupted. This is a 3 to 4 hour fairly intrusive and intensive exercise which is also likely to be emotionally distressing for the client as it will raise delicate and personal issues from their past. Therefore care is taken to schedule the day and time this exercise is undertaken to ensure a high level of support is available to the client immediately following the 'Audit'.

Action Plan

Information gathered in the 'Life Audit', and the previously completed Gambling, Need and Safety Audits, is then used to identify not only what a resident has lost but more importantly what issues still need to be addressed and what is there to build on, e.g. relationships, support networks, qualifications, skills and ambitions. An 'Action Plan' is agreed between the resident, the senior therapist and the support worker that identifies at what phase, and how, the personal needs identified in their 'Audits' are going to be addressed. They also begin to identify which issues they would prefer to tackle within the confidential setting of individual counselling. They also consider those issues they will raise more openly with the other residents either socially for support and advice or within the formal group work opportunities that occur throughout their stay. If appropriate the 'Action Plan' can be agreed immediately following the 'Life Audit' exercise or it may be left to a subsequent meeting. However there is not normally a gap of more than 48 hours between the completion of the 'Life Audit' and this subsequent meeting or impetus and detail can be lost.

Change

Those who truly want to address an addiction to gambling have to seek a basic change in the way they think as well as in their behaviour. It is not until they gain this realisation that an individual is truly on the way to recovery. They have to look for ways of not just avoiding gambling but also finding other ways of meeting the needs that gambling met.

Being Accepted

Assessees, during their first three weeks, will have been the subject of at least one 'Evaluation' meeting at which the other residents will have expressed their opinion of the assessee's apparent motivation to use the programme and its suitability. These opinions are taken into account at an 'Assessment Review', held between the assessee, their support worker and the senior therapist. If the decision of that review is for the assessee to leave and is that of the assessee, or unanimously that of the staff present, then no appeal procedure will apply (other than to a breach of statutory rights). In other cases an appeal may be made to the Project Director.