Mental Health Nursing

Case management: perspectives of the UK and US systems 97
Table 5.1 Components and interventions of clinical case
management
Component Intervention
Initial phase Engagement
Assessment
Planning
Environmental interventions Linkages with community resources
Consultation with families and caregivers
Maintenance and expansion of social networks
Collaboration with physicians and hospitals
Advocacy
Patient interventions Individual psychotherapy
Training in independent living skills
Psychoeducation
Patient–environment interventions Crisis intervention
Monitoring
Source: B. Greco and N. Worley (2001) ‘Community psychiatric nursing care’, in G. Stuart
and M. Laraia (eds), Principles and Practice of Psychiatric Nursing. St Louis, MO: Mosby.
pp. 728–43.
and intensive case management. Perhaps the most commonly used conceptualisation
of case management distinguishes between case management
and assertive community treatment.
Case management services are aimed at linking the service system to
the consumer and coordinating the service components so that he or she
can achieve successful community living. It includes problem solving to
provide continuity of services and overcome problems of rigid systems,
fragmented services, poor use of resources and problems of inaccessibility.
The six activities that form the core of US case management are:
1. identification and outreach;
2. assessment;
3. service planning;
4. linkage with needed services – including mental health treatment, crisis
response services, health and dental care, and housing;
5. monitoring service delivery;
6. advocacy.
In addition, core components and specific interventions related to clinical
case management are listed in Table 5.1.
Functions of case management in the US will be an increasingly prominent
part of mental health care in the future as attempts are made to balance