Menninger Leader to Train Global Mental Health Professionals on Award-Winning Perfect Depression Care Model

HOUSTON, Nov. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- At the invitation of Northern Ireland's leading counseling charity, Dr. C. Edward Coffey, president and CEO of The Menninger Clinic, a nationally ranked psychiatric hospital, will train mental health professionals and medical professionals on the award-winning Perfect Depression Care model, which Coffey created and previously implemented at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.

The training will take place the week of November 10 at Contact Northern Ireland, a nonprofit that provides mental health screening and counseling as well as a 24/7 suicide prevention crisis hotline.

As a result of achieving an 82 percent reduction in the suicide rate among patients in Henry Ford's HMO network, Coffey's Perfect Depression Care model won the Ernest Amory Codman Award in behavioral healthcare from The Joint Commission. Coffey originally designed the model to achieve zero patient suicides by implementing six major tactics within the hospital and promoting a shift in how mental health professionals approach treatment without adding costly resources or expanding clinical staffing.  Because of its effectiveness, Coffey is frequently called upon to give presentations on his depression care model to professionals across the U.S. and internationally.

In addition to the training, Coffey is presenting a keynote on his model at the fourth International Conference of Suicide Prevention in Belfast, Northern Ireland, November 11. Targeted to a cross-border and cross-sector representation, the conference will be attended by policy makers, political leaders, activists and clinicians from the healthcare, emergency services, justice, media and community sectors.

Fergus Cumiskey, Contact Northern Ireland's managing director, said, "The conference offers a vital and urgent opportunity for all those working within the challenging area of suicide prevention and evaluation to learn from the strengths and weaknesses of local and global research into suicide prevention."

Coffey's training comes on the heels of a new World Health Organization (WHO) global report on suicide prevention indicating that more than 800,000 people die by suicide every year or nearly one every 40 seconds.

Europe's suicide rate is slightly higher than the global average. As a result of these findings, WHO Member States are working towards reducing suicide by 10 percent by 2020. WHO called upon national governments to implement coordinated suicide prevention methods in addition to limiting access to methods of suicide.

Coffey joined The Menninger Clinic on October 1 from the Henry Ford Health System, bringing 30 years of administrative, clinical and research expertise. Among his many accomplishments, Coffey's leadership contributed to his organization earning the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation's highest presidential honor for performance excellence through innovation, improvement and visionary leadership.

Ranked fifth nationally on U.S. News & World Report's 2014 list of the best hospitals for psychiatry, Menninger operates five inpatient units and offers psychiatric assessment and stabilization as well as services for addictions, eating disorders and adults preparing to reintegrate into the community. Specialty treatment programs are available for adolescents, young adults and professionals in crisis.

About The Menninger Clinic
Founded in 1925, The Menninger Clinic is a national psychiatric hospital offering specialty diagnostic and treatment programs, educational programs for mental health professionals and research. Menninger has been named among the nation's best hospitals in psychiatry for 25 consecutive years by psychiatrists nationwide in U.S. News & World Report's annual survey. Menninger is the private teaching hospital of Baylor College of Medicine's Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Visit www.menningerclinic.com for more information.

Contact: Kristin Taylor, 713-524-8170, [email protected]

SOURCE The Menninger Clinic

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