Case Management

Book excerpt: Over the course of twenty years and across three editions, this text has approached case management as both an art and a science by providing students and practitioners with the basics of case management theory, skills, and applications. This fourth edition, which focuses on both the social work and nursing professions, offers trainers, instructors, and students detailed information about how case management is delivered, major issues encountered in practice, how services are affected by different populations, and the unique skills that are required by case managers in order to be effective. Chapter exercises and numerous case examples help readers practice some of the skills associated with the content offered.Case Management is unique in that it brings together the major professions that conduct case management in the United States. It is focused on skill learning more than on theory, and discusses not only the importance of case management in the current social work and medical milieu, but also the challenges that case managers face in helping clients. In addition, the text offers a model for integrated case management between professions and in numerous settings, including nursing centers, community mental health facilities, and criminal justice centers.