Problem Gambling - Data Collection and Analysis
Understanding how to collect and analyze clinical and demographic data is crucial to getting your message to those who need to hear it and to providing help that works.
Effective data collection is the only way to demonstrate the importance and success of your program to those who provide funding to problem gambling programs.
Most current programs lack the long-term follow-up information that is critical for analyzing their programs.
- Design a computer program that captures relevant data, which can be customized, changed, searched, and summarized.
- Maintain detailed client postal contact information, so that mail merges for specific populations (geographic location, player type, etc….) can be created and sent for special events
- Maintain detailed client telephone and e-mail contact information so that long term follow up is possible for research studies
- Differentiate between first time and repeat callers and tailor intervention accordingly
- Track number of treatment sessions each client attends for effective utilization review
- Establish database of qualified counselors and their credentials and specializations, to make client-counselor matching more effective
- Learn how to use the data you collect to:
- Target marketing efforts
- Develop treatment techniques specific to the most common types of gamblers in your region
- Measure effectiveness of individual clinicians
- Demonstrate long term results for the client population
- Assess trends in client demographic and clinical data
- Pilot new programs and track client success data to make decisions about continuation
- Eliminate programs that are not working
- Plan staffing patterns for help-line calls
- Publish detailed reports for community education and prevention efforts
- Respond quickly to media inquiries on problem gambling issues
