Te Rangihaeata Oranga Trust general manager Vicki Berkahn hopes growing research will help spread their whānau-centric approach to harm reduction. Photo / Paul Taylor
Te Rangihaeata Oranga Trust general manager Vicki Berkahn hopes growing research will help spread their whānau-centric approach to harm reduction. Photo / Paul Taylor
A Ministry of Health-funded report on problem gambling highlighting a need for whānau inclusive offerings has named a Hawke's Bay service leading the way.
The report, Enhancing support for family and affected others in New Zealand gambling services, was published on the Ministry of Health website on Thursday.
It wasprepared by the Gambling and Addictions Research Centre at Auckland University of Technology (AUT).
The report looked at the quality and effectiveness of support for families harmed by gambling and identifies opportunities for improvement.
Co-author of the AUT report, Associate Professor Jason Landon, head of psychology and neuroscience at AUT, said policy and services have developed with a focus on the problem gambler.
"Services now support families and whānau, but there isn't a clear understanding of what that support should look like,"
It was found that Māori are disproportionately harmed by gambling and the report suggested Māori harm reduction models would be useful.
The overarching recommendations of the report included a more holistic family-centric approach, in-depth engagement with families and affected others (through participatory research, service design, and evaluation), and creative workforce development.
Hawke's Bay-based Te Rangihaeata Oranga Trust gambling services was recognised in the report as engaging with a high proportion of families and affected others (FAO) in comparison to other services.
According to the report, Te Rangihaeata Oranga Trust alone engaged with almost 10 per cent of FAO clients nationally during the data extraction period.
Te Rangihaeata Oranga Trust general manager Vicki Berkahn said a core model of the service, incorporating physical, spiritual, mental and family health, was the Māori health model Te Whare Tapa Whā.
"We would view gambling harm as holistic consequences which are all seamless and interconnected between wairua, spirit, hinengaro, the cultural health and the cultural identity, and whānau," she said.
More than 50 per cent of Hawke's Bay-based Te Rangihaeata Oranga Trust gambling services' clients are the whānau of problem gamblers and not the gamblers themselves. Photo / Paul Taylor
"We're whānau-centred and we start with whakawhanaungatanga, which is learning about where you are from, because it can give quite a few clues as to why people go down the addiction path."
She said 50 per cent of their clients aren't problem gamblers, they were whānau of problem gamblers.
"They are more ready to get help. A gambler can go for years or decades before they either get in trouble with the law or with relationship breakdowns. So the whānau affected are quicker to come forward for help and we encourage it."
She said they helped clients who were problem gamblers reconnect with the whenua and where they were from.
"We do things like taking tangata whaiora, that is the client, into the bush to connect with the whenua, the land, and to harvest kawakawa leaves and make some healing balm," she said.
"We do a lot of work teaching them where they are from, learning their pepeha, learning te reo, other forms of healthy attachment."
She said Te Rangihaeata Oranga Trust was looking to lead the co-design and spread of this approach to the rest of Aotearoa.
"I think there is already an appetite from the government funders for this. Bits of research will only add to the body of efficacy proving that this approach works."
Dr Katie Palmer du Preez, lead author of the AUT report and Senior Research Fellow at the AUT Gambling and Addictions Research Centre, said there needs to be more engagement with families regarding their expectations of problem gambling services or preferences in terms of support.
According to an analysis of New Zealand gambling services data, family and affected others receive minimal assistance.
Only one in 10 group therapy sessions were attended by family and affected others.
Couple and family sessions accounted for just two per cent of treatment sessions with those experiencing gambling problems.
