Reading Time: 2 minutes
An independent evaluation revealed that health professionals are more confident in supporting young people who have completed Ygam’s training on gambling and gaming harms.
A survey conducted by the Responsible Gaming Council (RGC), revealed that 91% of respondents rated the Mindful Resilience Workshops as “good” and “very good”, while two thirds had already implemented their learnings in their daily practices. The programme almost doubled the knowledge of those who participated in it.
The “Mindful Resilience Programme” was developed with Bournemouth University. The City and Guilds-assured training is available to health professionals including GPs and Nurses. The programme’s full pilot phase ran from 2021-2022.
The confidence of delegates in their abilities has almost doubled in each of the areas of inquiry, such as directing people to sources of information, addressing children and youths about gambling, assessing gaming participation, knowing when and how to respond, and knowing where to intervene.
Linda Scollins Smith is the Director of Programs at Ygam. She said, “The results of this evaluation were encouraging and a step forward in addressing the necessity for better understanding gaming and gambling harms among the health care sector.” The program has already helped over 1000 health professionals, with very positive feedback from participants about the content, resources and ongoing support.
As with any pilot programme, we have areas that can be improved. These evaluations, as an organisation that is evidence-driven, are crucial to ensuring that we develop our educational offerings and continue to be a leader in the sector.
Shelley White said, “RGC’s Research and Advisory Services Team is proud to deliver this independent assessment of the Mindful Resilience Programme, which has shown promising results for healthcare professionals during its Pilot phase. It is important to train and educate those who work with youth on how to assess and respond effectively to the risks associated with gaming and gambling. “We are confident that Ygam will use our findings and recommendations to support their commitment to delivering this innovative program, which will help to improve the safety and care of young people.”
Dr. Melissa Salmon is a Senior Researcher with the RGC. She found that 64% of the trained delegates had applied their learning to their work in the field of children and youth within three months after completing the course. 73% of participants said that the process of implementing the knowledge and skills they learned from the training was easy and without obstacles.
The majority of participants (84%) said they would not change the content or resources covered by the workshop, and 91% of them rated the workshop either as “good” (14%) or “very good (77%).
