GAMBLING ADDICTION IS NOT A GAME Erasmus Project

Project Title

GAMBLING ADDICTION IS NOT A GAME

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Health and wellbeing; Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

Nowadays, we are witnessing a terrible connection between young people and gambling. Young people start playing games at an early age and they are increasingly becoming addicted to them.
The pathological gambling is a disease recognized by WHO (World Health Organization) and not only affects the addictive aspect, but also the impulse control. It usually reflects another type of problem, disguised through the game (for example, to try to change their future, leaving everything at random of the game, so that young people think they have the control over things but as it happens it is the game which controls them.
For all this, we have developed a series of objectives to be transferred in our project, such as:
1. Establish a programme of reintegration, inclusion and reorganization of behaviours that help the rehabilitation of the pathological gambler;
2. Establish the need for a multidisciplinary work that comprises the different approaches of different professionals (gamblers, psychologists, doctors, teachers, etc.);
3. Alert and raise awareness about the dangers of gambling in young people, attending to its progressive increase at that age;
4. Motivate the occupation of free time in alternative activities, such as sports, reading, going to the cinema, etc;
In addition to other connected objectives, which we have previously exposed in the objective sector, we will also expose activities directly related to the intended objectives.
For example, activities that were related to the objectives outlined above are:
1. Establish a programme of reintegration, inclusion and reorganization of behaviours to help the rehabilitation of the pathological gambler.
We will elaborate a reintegration programme, prepared by professional psychologists in which the guidelines that a person who has fallen into this type of gambling addiction should follow, so that families and ex-players can return to their activity in an orderly manner.
2. Establish an information campaign about the risks and consequences of pathological gambling, with posters in schools and informative talks in high schools. All of this will be carried out with the help of audio visual material to be shared on the networks, with briefing notes in radio, TV and press, etc., a wide information campaign using different means to become a strategy aimed to create awareness of the problem.
3. A manual of good practices on healthy and responsible play opposite anomalies in the pathological or compulsive gambling.
We will create a list of recommended practices in opposition to those practices leading to addiction.
4. Provide several modules of active play, sports and outdoor activities to be performed in groups, as an alternative of leisure: motivating activities to prevent from isolation at the social level and to prevent the immobility and physical inactivity caused by the online game.
5. Produce an end-product, with a four-episode video:
a. A promotional video explaining the most common occurrence for the young people to end up in this type of disorder by means of dramatized scenes, songs or any other resource that may make an impact on the youth.
b. A video where former gamblers reinserted could give advice to young people, alerting them of the dangers of gambling addiction and, at the same time, sharing their experience on the subject.
c. A video gathering the different games of chance that can engage young people and how their responsible use should be, warning about the conditioning factors that mark the transition from healthy game to pathological game.
d. A representative video where some young people illustrate about their free time, with slogans against abusive and compulsive gambling.
Some examples could be shown: a young person playing sport with their friends and a young person playing at home on the Internet, isolated. This video would display the different situations and the risks and virtues for each of them.
As we have done with the objectives, we have synthesized the activities in five, although before we have described more activities (we will relate them to the other objectives annexed to those described in this section).
This project will be focused on four points:
a. awareness and disclosure of the pathology of gambling as addiction and lack of control of the person (to learn where the danger is and to recognize whether one is addicted or not);
b. focusing on the problem, when, how and why young people fall into this type of addiction, prevention work, explaining the dangers of addictive play and how to deal with gambling addiction;
c. treatment of the disease from the option of alternatives, different options that can lead to responsible gambling and the occupation of free time in other types of habits;
d. reinsertion of the recovered player, change of habits, socialization and control and follow-up of their lifestyle after having recovered to prevent them from returning to recurring in the pathological game.

Project Website

https://www.gamblingaddictionproject.eu

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 38333 Eur

Project Coordinator

FEDERACION ESPAÑOLA DE JUGADORES DE AZAR REHABILITADOS & Country: ES

Project Partners

• ATENEA Projects Lda.
• ETAIREIA KOINONIKIS PAREMVASIS KAIPOLITISMOU TIS NOMAPCHIAKIS AFTODIOIKIS MAGNISIAS
• ASOCIACION DEPORTIVA CULTURAL DE INVESTIGACION Y ASESORAMIENTO INNODXT