A descriptive analysis of Community Support Program case managers serving the chronically mentally ill

Abstract

This article presents a description of case managers who serve community-based chronically mentally ill (CMI) persons through the Community Support Program (CSP). Information is presented on case managers' demographic characteristics, education, job training, job history, current job activities, and locus of employment. Data were generated through the Case Manager Background Questionnaire, a 23-item self-administered instrument developed in conjunction with the CSP, a pilot Federal-State collaboration project designed to explore strategies for improving the delivery of community-based mental health and related services to the CMI. Results of the study suggest that a typical CSP case manager is white, female and in the mid-thirties. Case managers are a highly educated group; nearly one-half have graduate degrees and about two-thirds have participated in an in-service or continuing education program. Currently, two out of three CSP case managers are employed at Community Mental Health Centers and about one-third of their time is spent in direct service provision. While CSP case managers have been working at their present location for about one and one-half years, they have been in the community-based mental health system for about four years, and with the mentally disabled an average of seven years. A critical issue emerging from this analysis is the need for future research on the relationships among job training, education, job functions, and service delivery.

An evaluation of the implementation of case management in the community psychiatric nursing service

“…It also helped to reduce the fragmentation of care. It is supported by literature that the care co‐ordinating role of case management is crucial ( Goldestrom & Manderscheid 1983, Jowett & Armitage 1988, Mak 1992). This role appears to be one of the important factors that contribute to the improvement in clients’ mental and social functioning.…”

“…In this study, the case managers’ role functions included assessment, planning, co‐ordinating, monitoring and evaluating. When comparing the role of case managers in this study with that in the literature, case managers in this study performed core functions as described in the literature: assessment, planning, co‐ordinating, monitoring and evaluating ( Goldestrom & Manderscheid 1983, Carpenter 1992, Bryan et al . 1994 ).…”

“…In case management, the case manager plays a pivotal role in the process of service delivery. Goldstrom & Manderscheid (1983) commented that finding a suitable person to perform the role of case manager was an important factor related to the success of case management. Zander (1988) contended that central to the case management model is the appointment of a case manager or the incorporation of case management functions into an already established post.…”

Research on community support services: What have we learned.

“…Direct services range from one-third to two-thirds of a case manager's time. Other variables that affect the actual cost of case management are caseload size (Goldstrom & Manderscheid, 1983), the amount and kind of system resources, and the case managers’ control over these resources (Schwartz et al, 1982).…”

Intensive child case management: Work roles and activities

“…Process research from the adult case management literature suggests that environmental constraints, rather than specific job descriptions, oi~n shape the activities and functions of the case manager (Goldstrom & Manderscheid, 1983;Intagliata, 1982;Rubin, 1992b).…”