TimeOut: A peer-led gambling recovery service for adults in Nottingham

How are the Public involved?

The PHIRST PHRESH team collaborates with a Public Advisory Committee and engages external public involvement representatives to provide informed input throughout the course of each evaluation. Due to the specialist nature of this project, we have engaged Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) members who have lived experience of gambling recovery, instead of recruiting public representatives from our established Public Advisory Committee. We will liaise closely with Nottingham City Council, Double Impact, wider agencies connected to TimeOut, programme recipients and people with lived experience of gambling recovery who are unconnected to TimeOut.

Lay summary of research

What is the evaluation about?

Gambling related harm refers to the negative impacts that gambling can have on people’s lives. This may include money problems, relationship breakdowns, poor mental and physical health, issues at work, and involvement in crime. As well as causing harm for the individual themselves, family members, friends, and the wider community may also be affected by a person’s gambling. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has recognised gambling harm as a serious public health issue, with an estimated cost to society of £1.27 billion each year, including significant costs linked to suicide and homelessness.

TimeOut is a recovery service in Nottingham which supports adults affected by their own gambling. It is run by people with personal experience of gambling harm, and offers one-to-one support, peer group sessions, and connections to other relevant services. It aims to help members recover, avoid relapse, and build a strong foundation for a healthier future.

What will we do?

Our study has two key aims:

1. To understand the impact of TimeOut, focusing on: i) recovery capital (the personal, social and community resources which support recovery) ii) gambling harms and iii) frequency and severity of relapse.

2. To explore whether and how TimeOut works, including what parts of the service are most helpful and how these work for different people in different situations.

How we will do it

We will evaluate this programme using a variety of approaches and will engage with a range of people involved in or related to the project. 

We will: 

1. Talk to staff and volunteers at TimeOut, as well as professionals from other related support agencies, to explore their experiences of the service.
2. Talk to people who have experience of using the TimeOut service. These interviews will be conducted by peer researchers, who have lived experience of recovery, supported by a University researcher.
3. Ask people who use the TimeOut service to complete a questionnaire about the number and quality of their social relationships, and about the personal, social, and community resources which help their recovery.

Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE)  

We have developed this evaluation plan with insight from people with lived experience of gambling harm and recovery. This includes individuals who have used the TimeOut service, as well as others who are not directly involved in the programme.

Throughout the evaluation, we will use participatory methods. This means people who have used TimeOut can actively assist with conducting the research, by helping to recruit others, acting as peer researchers, and helping to make sense of the findings. This ensures that those most affected by gambling harm help guide the learning and future development of TimeOut.

What will we do with the results?

 We will write a peer-reviewed publication and produce a report for Nottingham City Council. We plan to share our findings and guidance with a wide range of other people, such as leaders from local authorities, health and social care, and the voluntary sector. We will present the findings to other researchers and people working in this area at scientific and policy meetings.