Case management is the coordination of community services for mental health patients by allocating a professional to be responsible for the assessment of need and implementation of care plans. It is usually required for individuals who have a serious mental illness and need ongoing support in areas such as housing, employment, social relationships, and community participation. This level of support is also suitable for service users with a major psychotic disorder.

The underlying tasks of case management include:

• assessment of need
• care planning
• implementation
• regular review

The case management model developed in the USA in response to the closure of large psychiatric hospitals (known as deinstitutionalisation

Deinstitutionalisation

Deinstitutionalization or deinstitutionalization is the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community mental health service for those diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability. Deinstitutionalization can have multiple definitions; the first...

) and initially following a brokeage model, where professionals arranged for the provisions of services, without the need for direct patient care or contact. Clinical or therapeutic case management then developed as the need for the mental professional to establish a therapeutic relationship and be actively involved in clinical care was recognised. A more intensive form of case management (assertive community treatment

Assertive Community Treatment

Assertive community treatment, or ACT, is an intensive and highly integrated approach for community mental health service delivery. ACT programs serve people whose symptoms of mental illness result in severe functional difficulties that interfere with their ability to achieve personally meaningful...

 or Intensive Case Management) was also developed for patients with more severe illness who needed a more assertive approach..

See also

• Medical case management
  Medical case management
  Medical case management is a collaborative process that facilitates recommended treatment plans to assure the appropriate medical care is provided to disabled, ill or injured individuals....
  
  
• Clinical pathway
  Clinical Pathway
  Clinical pathways, also known as care pathways, critical pathways, integrated care pathways, or care maps, are one of the main tools used to manage the quality in healthcare concerning the standardization of care processes. It has been proven that their implementation reduces the variability in...
  
  
• Care programme approach
  Care programme approach
  Care Programme Approach is a United Kingdom system of delivering community services to those with mental illness. It was introduced to England in 1991 and by 1996 become a key component of the mental health system in England...
  
  
• Assertive community treatment
  Assertive Community Treatment
  Assertive community treatment, or ACT, is an intensive and highly integrated approach for community mental health service delivery. ACT programs serve people whose symptoms of mental illness result in severe functional difficulties that interfere with their ability to achieve personally meaningful...
  
  
• Care in the community
  Care in the Community
  Care in the Community is the British policy of deinstitutionalization, treating and caring for physically and mentally disabled people in their homes rather than in an institution...
  
  

Further reading

• FICTION Aaron Sommers, University of New Hampshire. "Case Managing".http://www.confluence.ou.edu/journal/Fall2009.html