While there are many obstacles to training in effective suicide prevention and treatment, CAMS-care tackles the alarming training deficit with a robust offering of training on how to use the evidence-based and outcome-based CAMS (Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality) system of care.

CAMS-care recognizes this growing need to make effective training available to healthcare workers and clinicians to reach our goal of reducing deaths by suicide around the world. To that end, CAMS training is carefully designed to be accessible and effective for any individual or organization that shares our mission.

CAMS Training Highlights

  • Easily Accessed
    Especially in this age of COVID-19, online delivery systems make training accessible while limiting in-person contact. All elements of CAMS training are available online, including role-playing modules and consultations.
  • Convenient for Busy Schedules
    Since all CAMS training is on-demand, it can be completed at any time, and there are no deadlines. Clinicians and healthcare workers can complete the materials at their own pace, at any time convenient to them.
  • Affordable
    Although the CDC reports that suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States and the second leading cause of death in youth, funding for suicide prevention and treatment lags behind other top causes of death, as pointed out in a 2018 article by USAToday. However, CAMS-care’s training is very affordable, and most budgets can easily accommodate the cost.
  • Increases Confidence
    Working with suicidal patients can be intimidating for many healthcare providers, especially when they are unsure of how to best interact with clients who present with suicidal tendencies. It’s not always clear how to best help them. CAMS training recognizes these challenges and provides clinicians with the knowledge and tools to gain confidence in working with even the most challenging cases. Thousands of clinicians and organizations all over the world are using CAMS as their preferred method of training and treatment.“The CAMS model and training tools have very quickly helped us to feel more confident and prepared to manage risky patients. Assessment and treatment in these cases are often confusing, and we have benefitted greatly from the structure of the CAMS approach, which has helped us on a case by case basis to understand the phenomenon of suicide risk and organize our treatment approach. I have yet to find a comparable framework that is as accessible to clinicians and yet so robust.” –Eric Lewandowski, NYU Langone
  • Evidence-Based and Outcome-Based
    The CAMS Framework is backed by 30 years of on-going clinical research, with replicated data across various clinical research studies. In fact, the Joint Commission issued a Sentinel Event Alert on February 24, 2016 titled Detecting and Treating Suicidal Ideation in all Settings. In recommendations for Behavioral Health Treatment and Discharge, CAMS was identified as one of four “evidence-based clinical approaches that help to reduce suicidal thoughts and behaviors.”
  • Mitigates Malpractice Risk
    Often, the reality and proliferation of malpractice lawsuits prevent even the best, well-meaning therapists from treating suicidal patients – and that’s a significant loss for the 12 million suicidal ideators in this country. However, proper documentation using evidence-based, suicide-specific treatment greatly reduces this risk, and the CAMS “Suicide Status Form (SSF)” provides just that. With the SSF, which is a collaborative tool used in every treatment session, CAMS helps clinicians complete exhaustive medical record documentation that ensures competent clinical practice that far exceeds the standard of care and decreases exposure to malpractice liability.

 

New “CAMS Trained” and “CAMS accredited” Designations

To further support CAMS-care’s mission to save lives by training clinicians to effectively treat suicidal patients, CAMS-care now offers “CAMS-Trained” and “CAMS-accredited” designations.

  • CAMS Trained
    The path to becoming CAMS Trained requires only 10 hours of course work and 4 hours of supervision calls when working with patients. Course work involves completing three elements:

    • The CAMS Foundational Video Course
    • Online Role-Play Training Day
    • CAMS supervision calls

All training is available online. For an additional fee, up to 10 CPD points are available.

Anyone with the CAMS-Trained designation has the option of being included in the online CAMS Clinician Locator, which helps those in need find qualified CAMS providers in their area.

Learn more about becoming CAMS Trained here.

  • CAMS accredited
    Building on the foundation received with the CAMS Trained designation, becoming CAMS accredited involves demonstrating your knowledge of and adherence to the CAMS Framework.

CAMS accredited will be available in 2021. Learn more here.

Death by suicide rates are sadly on the rise, but with effective training in evidence-based suicide prevention systems of care, we can slow this trend, together.