Aims:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many treatment or help services for gambling were closed or moved online. At the same time, closures of gambling opportunities impacted gambling availability and practices. This study investigates gamblers’ and their concerned significant others’ (CSOs) experiences and views on treatment and help services during this exceptional time and perceptions on how to develop services further after the pandemic.

Design:

Three online questionnaires to elicit gambler and CSO experiences were conducted during the spring 2020 in Finland. In total, 847 respondents answered and shared experiences on how the situation had impacted their gambling behaviour and service needs, how service closures or the moving of services online had impacted them, and how they thought the prevention and treatment of gambling harms should be organised during and after COVID-19.

Results:

Changed gambling practices reduced overall service needs. Service closures had negative impacts, but online services were considered positively, as these provided a low-threshold option. Respondents also shared insights into how the service provision for gamblers should further be developed during and after COVID-19.

中文翻译：

---

COVID-19 期间赌博的治疗和帮助服务：赌徒及其相关重要他人的经历

目标：

在 COVID-19 大流行期间，许多赌博治疗或帮助服务被关闭或转移到网上。同时，赌博机会的关闭影响了赌博的可用性和实践。本研究调查了赌徒及其相关重要他人 (CSO) 在这一特殊时期对治疗和帮助服务的经验和看法，以及对如何在大流行之后进一步发展服务的看法。

设计：

2020 年春季在芬兰进行了三份在线问卷调查，以获取赌徒和 CSO 的经验。总共有 847 名受访者回答并分享了这种情况如何影响他们的赌博行为和服务需求、服务关闭或在线服务转移对他们有何影响，以及他们认为应该如何组织赌博危害的预防和治疗。在 COVID-19 之后。

结果：

改变赌博行为减少了整体服务需求。服务关闭有负面影响，但在线服务被认为是积极的，因为这些提供了一个低门槛的选择。受访者还分享了如何在 COVID-19 期间和之后进一步发展为赌徒提供的服务的见解。