Treatment of Gambling Disorder and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in UK Military Veterans: A Scoping and Feasibility Study

Eve Oliver and Simon Dymond take a look at this Research Wales Innovation Funded Project, ACTIVATE. This is a study that evaluates a smartphone app aimed to reduce harmful gambling and PTSD symptoms in veterans.

ACTIVATE is a collaboration between Swansea University, Combat Stress, and King’s Centre for Military Health Research, King’s College London. Simon Dymond, the project lead and director of the GREAT Network at Swansea University, tells Eve Oliver about what the GREAT Network is and how it led to the RWIF Funded Project: ACTIVATE.

The ACTIVATE study, evaluating a smartphone app to reduce harmful gambling and PTSD symptoms in veterans with co-existing diagnoses of PTSD and gambling disorder. The app is based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and the team will examine its efficacy and cost-effectiveness. The study, worth £300,000, is funded by the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (Cabinet Office) Health Innovation Fund and was one of 22 successful awards totalling £5m recently announced by Rt Hon Jonny Mercer MP, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs.

You can get in touch with Simon and his team at great@swansea.ac.uk if you are looking for more information on this project. Please visit their website, or contact the The National Gambling Support Network on 0808 8020 133.