Gambling Disorder Screening Day Host FAQs

Screening Day is held annually on the second Tuesday of Problem Gambling Awareness Month (March). It is a one-day international grassroots event designed to increase awareness of gambling harm, and support and encourage providers to screen for Gambling Disorder in a variety of settings. This event was established in 2014 by the Division on Addiction at Cambridge Health Alliance.

Gambling Disorder leads to financial, emotional, social, occupational, and physical harms, yet many cases go undetected and untreated. Failure to detect gambling harm is due, in part, to limited screening for this problem. By hosting a Screening Day event, your organization is taking an important first step to help identify individuals who would benefit from further assessment for potential gambling-related problems.

There are many ways to host a Screening Day event! Remember, the goal of Gambling Disorder Screening Day is to screen as many people as possible. Event examples include:

• screening clients during appointments
• setting up an information booth in your organization’s lobby or waiting room to encourage self-screening and to provide information about Gambling Disorder
• holding a tabling event in a community space such as a library, religious institution, or community center.

We also encourage participants to brainstorm and implement innovative event ideas to encourage screening in your practice, organization, or community.

This year, Gambling Disorder Screening Day took place on Tuesday, March 12th. Many Screening Day events took place on this date, or in March during Problem Gambling Awareness Month. However, any day is a good day to screen for Gambling Disorder and gambling-related problems, and your organization can host an event on any date that you choose through June 14th, 2024 in order to receive a stipend for your organization’s participation!

Anyone can screen for Gambling Disorder and host a Screening Day Event! Any Massachusetts-based organization is eligible to apply for this specific opportunity – behavioral health organizations, outpatient treatment facilities, recovery-support centers, community-based organizations, veterans’ groups – these are just a few examples. Awardee organizations will be required to submit a W-9 Form and banking information in the name of the organization.

Stipends will be distributed by check or ACH in two phases, with the initial distribution to take place in advance of the event, and the final distribution to take place upon submission of all event deliverables, including a post-event survey.