Gambling Harm Treatment and Support in Scotland: Current provisions and future directions

Annex 2: Interview topic guide

Purpose

These interviews aim to build on survey findings by exploring how gambling support services operate in practice, including service delivery, pathways, workforce, data and evaluation practices, partnerships, and future development. The interviews are exploratory and intended to understand operational realities rather than evaluate individual organisations.

Format

• Semi-structured interview
• Duration: up to 60 minutes
• Participants: organisational representatives with operational knowledge
• Approach: problem-centred, allowing participants to describe services in their own terms while ensuring coverage of key themes.

Topic areas and indicative timing

1. Introduction and organisational context

• Introduce study purpose and interview scope
• Confirm participant role and organisational perspective
• Clarify organisational remit in relation to gambling support in Scotland
• Confirm consent and confidentiality arrangements.

2. Service model in practice

Opening prompt question:

Could you describe your gambling-related support offer as it currently operates, and what someone can actually receive from your service?

Explore:

• Types of support provided in practice
• What is delivered directly versus signposted externally
• Typical structure and intensity of support
• Delivery modes (telephone, online, in person, hybrid)
• Whether gambling support is stand-alone or embedded within wider services.

3. Access, pathways, and continuity of support

• Main referral routes into the service (NB: Most organisations ticked most of the answer options in the survey – so need to understand what the most typical ones are)
• What happens between first contact and ongoing support
• Waiting times and attrition/disengagement
• Typical onward referral (NB: Most organisations ticked most of the answer options in the survey – so need to understand what the most typical ones are)
• What happens at completion: follow-up, aftercare, re-entry routes.

4. Specialist provision (where relevant)

• Specialist provision for particular groups (women, LGBTQ+, etc.)
• What makes a provision specialist in practice
• How specialist approaches were developed
• Adaptations made within mainstream services
• Challenges associated with specialist delivery.

5. Partnerships and role within the wider support infrastructure in Scotland

• Key partnerships and collaborations
• Nature of partnership working (referrals, joint delivery, shared training, etc.)
• Organisation’s role within the wider Scottish support landscape
• Perceived overlaps or gaps in provision.

6. Workforce, qualifications, and training (NB: most organisations ticked most answer options in the survey, so need to understand in more detail what kind of specialists trained in what way they actually have in place)

• Staff roles delivering gambling-related support
• Professional backgrounds and competencies
• Gambling-specific training and CPD
• Supervision and safeguarding arrangements
• Barriers to workforce development.

7. Data, outcomes, and evaluation

• What data is routinely collected (NB: based on survey results there appear to be two major types of organisations, i.e. those who said they don’t collect anything at all and those who ticked almost everything)
• How outcomes or effectiveness are assessed (if at all)
• Main challenges around monitoring and evaluation.

8. Lived experience involvement

• How lived experience is involved (design, delivery, governance)
• Example of influence on service development.

9. Other gambling-related activity beyond direct support

• What exactly is being delivered (e.g. education, training, advocacy, research or awareness work)
• Relationship between these activities and direct support provision
• Perceived uniqueness or overlap with other organisations.

10. Funding, sustainability, and development plans

• Main funding streams (probe which ones are most important)
• Sustainability considerations and current funding context
• Key development plans or priorities for the next few years.

11. Closing reflections

• The biggest current gap in gambling support provision in Scotland
• Anything important not yet covered?