The collaborative assessment and management of suicide (CAMS): a recovery-oriented approach to working with suicidal people
| Published date | 10 April 2017 |
| Date | 10 April 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-11-2016-0030 |
| Pages | 86-90 |
| Author | Eoin Galavan,Julie Repper |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Social inclusion |
The collaborative assessment and
management of suicide (CAMS):
a recovery-oriented approach to
working with suicidal people
Eoin Galavan and Julie Repper
Abstract
Purpose –The collaborative assessment and management of suicide (CAMS) is an evidenced-based
therapeutic framework designed to facilitate a co-authored and collaborative approach to addressing
suicidality (Jobes, 2009). The collaborative nature of this approach is fundamental to its success in delivering
suicide specific and recovery-oriented mental health care to thousands of suicidal people to date. The
purpose of this paper is to outline the CAMS model and propose it as a recovery-oriented approach to
addressing suicidality in mental health care.
Design/methodology/approach –The CAMS model and its philosophy are reviewed in light of
recovery principles.
Findings –It is proposed that the CAMS model is consistent with a recovery-oriented approach to
mental health care for suicidal people.
Originality/value –As yet there are no specifically identified recovery-oriented approaches to addressing
suicidality.
Keywords Suicide, Recovery, Risk management, Risk assessment, Coproduced
Paper type General review
Suicide is a common presenting problem in mental health care, with as many as a quarter of those
dying by suicide having been in contact with mental health services in the year prior to death
(Appleby et al., 2001). This results in an expectation that mental health care staff identify risk and
meaningfully address suicidality. The collaborative assessmentand management of suicide (CAMS)
model has been developed over the last 25 years having undergone thorough and rigorous
psychometric testing and multiple clinical trials both correlational and RCT (Jobes, 2012, 2016). The
list of interventions that have a replicated RCT evidence base pertaining to effectiveness in
addressing suicidality is surprisingly short (Brown and Jager-Hyman, 2014), i.e. dialectical behaviour
therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy for suicide prevention, CAMS and non-demand follow up/
caring contact. The CAMS model represents a fundamental and radical shift towards co-authoring
and collaboration in the context of addressing suicidality. At its most basic level the CAMS approach
emphasises the development of a therapeutic alliance in which the suicidal person is seen as a
central driving force in the therapeutic process: “the clinical alliance is the essential vehicle for
delivering a potentially lifesaving series of clinical int erventions”(Jobes, 2009). The CAMS philosophy
(Jobes, 2009) actively eschews the potential for coercive practices which can plague encounters
between mental health staff and suicidal people, where suicidal people are seen as “threat and
trouble”, to be gotten rid of or controlled, largely to avoid blame or litigation. Philosophically the
CAMS model asserts that all suicidal people have legitimate reasons for considering taking their
lives, and when their stories are listened to and understood, so can their suicidal desire be
understood. For example, a person may feel unable to continue living with unbearable pain and
suffering, and sees death via lethal self-injury as a means to resolving this seemingly impossible
Eoin Galavan is a Senior Clinical
Psychologist at the Department
of Clinical Psychology,
Health Service Executive,
Dublin, Ireland.
Julie Repper is a Recovery
Lead at the Recovery College,
Nottinghamshire Healthcare
Trust, Nottingham, UK.
PAG E 86
j
MENTALHEALTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION
j
VOL. 21 NO. 2 2017, pp. 86-90, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2042-8308 DOI 10.1108/MHSI-11-2016-0030
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