Terlizzi (BA) stands against gambling addiction and alongside Confesercenti Bari and ASL Bari which, last October, signed an important collaboration protocol in order to prevent gambling addiction and with the aim of organizing training courses (in person or remotely) for managers and employees of all those activities in which the presence of public games is recorded (including betting, bars, tobacconists, etc.). The Municipality of Terlizzi approved a resolution adhering to the project and authorizing the training authority "in the ways and times that the Provincial Confesercenti Terra di Bari will establish with the Suap office of the institution, and which can also take place online". In the resolution, the Municipality of Terlizzi approves the training program of the training course in the ways and times established by ASL Bari and Confesercenti Bari. An important step in the fight against gambling addiction: «The most updated data from the Customs and Monopolies Agency show that citizens are ready to save on essential goods except for gaming», explains the councilor for productive activities of the Municipality of Terlizzi, Michelangelo De Palma.
«In Puglia in 2023 – continues De Palma – one billion and 221 million were played on slot machines and video lottery terminals, «SuperEnalotto» and betting, «Scratch cards» e Lotto. Compared to 2022 there was an increase of over 200 thousand euros. Our community is not exempt and gambling and gambling addiction affect us all. This training activity - concludes the councilor - initially involves the operators, who I ask to participate because it can be an important first step which will be followed by others, including the mapping of sensitive places. No one should feel extraneous to this problem."
«The objective we have set ourselves with the protocol with the ASL, to which the Municipality of Terlizzi has joined, is to contribute to reducing the number of people addicted to gambling addiction, one of the silent cancers of current society – recalls the president of Confesercenti Bari, Dr. Raffaella Altamura – and, without any rhetoric, it is destroying entire families. Unfortunately, the data is unequivocal and There are many people affected by this problem: young people, very young people, but also elderly people, often in already precarious economic and social situations, who see gaming as the only possibility of improving their living conditions. I thank the Municipality of Terlizzi, in the person of the mayor Michelangelo De Chirico and his council, in particular the councilor for productive activities Michelangelo De Palma, for having joined the project. The collaboration agreement with the ASL – continues Dr. Altamura – allows us to train our members and their employees because, unfortunately, there is never too much prevention. We expect other municipalities to also produce documents aimed at this type of objective."
The training courses (mandatory according to Regional Law no. 43 of December 2013) will last 12 hours
The phases of the training course
MODULE 1: LEGAL GAMING REGULATORY SYSTEM (2 HOURS)
1) National and regional legislation relating to gambling
2) Sanctioning discipline
3) Safe, legal and responsible gaming: the player's decalogue and information for users
4) Who are the operators and who monitors the legality of the game
5) Rights, duties, tasks and role of gaming hall managers
MODULE 2: PATHOLOGICAL GAMING (7 HOURS)
1) Definition of addiction according to the DSM V criteria
2) Addictive characteristics of gambling
3) The mechanisms of gambling disorder
4) Identification of signs of risky behavior
5) Psychosociological interpretative models of the DGA mechanisms
6) Epidemiology of the disorder and clinical picture
7) Course and prognosis
MODULE 3: PREVENTION AND RISK REDUCTION (3 HOURS)
1) Method of relating and communicating with the player at risk
2) The territorial network of support and care services to be activated if necessary
3) ASL information services and materials
