The concept of case management is a method of action dedicated to the care of people in the social and health sector. Case management stands for a human service approach that provides the necessary support, treatment, promotion and care to the affected person in sensitive and critical life situations. Individual attention as a person-related service extends to a wide range of applications in the fields of care, rehabilitation, child and youth welfare, family and disability welfare and health care. At the center is "the case" as a construction that represents the affected circumstances of the person in need of help. The task of the case manager is to initiate a caring managerial process of action that corresponds to the situational context of the person seeking help in their social environment. The basic criterion here is a cooperative intersectoral and interdisciplinary, transprofessional collaboration of all human service actors, which constitutes a care network. The intention of the case management process is to effectively and efficiently deal with the problems of the person concerned. The decisive premise for the person to be cared for is the recovery or maintenance of his or her autonomy and sovereignty, which is indicated by the client-related participation and co-creation, the aspect of self-care up to a development of the self-management of the addressee. The conceptual architecture of case management is based on an interdependent double strategy, which on the one hand delineates the action-oriented methods of the person related case level and on the other hand implies a strategic process design on the organizational or system level between the human service providers. The linking of both system levels is exhausted in different case-dependent control variants and fixed process forms, which represent the core elements of methodical action at the case and system level.

In line with WHO's goal of providing continuous and integrated patient care, case management focuses on the field of direct care and seeks to transcend organizational and professional boundaries on a case-by-case basis. The selection and specialization of participants in the division of labor in this area focuses on a common goal. This requires the initiation of a collaborative process in which a person or group of people takes responsibility for coordinating care over a period of time or throughout the course of care. Case management should support people who, for certain reasons (illness or disability), cannot perceive their interests and independently organize their affairs. The aim is to offer the client self-help help in order to avoid permanent addiction. At the same time, the protection function acquires a socio-political dimension: through case management, the shortcomings of the social security system become visible. This refers to those positions that are responsible for guaranteeing the provision of needs-oriented social security. The task of those holding these positions / positions is to create the best prerequisites for the implementation of targeted strategies of activity. Currently, case managers take on diverse functions, in particular the function of a navigator, supporting the client, for example, in his attempts to navigate a variety of service offerings, departmental regulations and legal norms. The lawyer function of case management plays a significant role, since patients / clients and their relatives are in a difficult and sensitive life situation and, in need of help, are not able to defend their interests.