Managed Care, Ethics, and Counseling

Abstract

In this article, the author addresses issues of managed care and ethics and how they relate to counseling. Specifically, a recent article published in The Counseling Psychologist (C. C. Cooper & M. C. Gottlieb, 2000) is reviewed. Implications for counselors and counselor educators are then explored.

The Challenges in Providing Services to Clients with Mental Illness: Managed Care, Burnout and Somatic Symptoms Among Social Workers

“…Social workers have been required to alter their role from serving as clients' advocates to balancing clients' needs against the need for cost control. These conflicted ideologies are a source of frustration for social workers who perform the largest portion of mental health work in the USA (Cohen 2003;Daniels 2001;Egan and Kadushin 2007;Scheid 2003).…”

The Influence of Managed Care on Job-Related Attitudes of Social Workers

“…Organizational commitment, on the other hand, represents something beyond workers' immediate reactions to specific activities and aspects of the work environment. However, it is inevitable that at a time when workers experience ethical dilemmas, and conflict of interest in the ways that they are required to serve their clients, they are more likely to feel less committed to the organization (Daniels, 2001;Feldman, 1997;Hall & Keefe, 2000). Discrepancies between the goals and values of both the worker and the organization are known to become stressors that eventually lead to negative work outcomes.…”

“…Workers' attitudes toward their job are thought to be largely a function of their work environment. As a result of the significant changes in the way that social workers and other helping professionals (i.e., psychologists and psychiatrists) are required to provide services to clients, it is very likely that workers have become susceptible to negative job attitudes (Cohen, 2003;Daniels, 2001;Hall & Keefe, 2000;Keefe & Hall, 1998). Perceptions that job activities are inappropriate and incongruent with workers' training and expertise can result in feelings such as disliking the job, and experiencing a sense of disdain for the organization (Acker, 1999;Arches, 1997;Drolen & Harrison, 1990;Rosenbaum, 1992).…”

Promoting a Contextual Perspective in the Application of the ACA Code of Ethics: The Ethics into Action Map

“…However, much of the recent literature has dealt with a variety of issues related to ethics and ethical practice, such as the relationships between values and moral foundations (Hill, 2004;Jennings, Sovereign, Bottorff, Mussell, & Vye, 2005;Urofsky & Engels, 2003) and the analysis of specific ethical standards. Furthermore, the majority of the literature that has focused on applying ethics to practice has primarily targeted general counseling practice (Corey et al, 2007;Ford, 2000;Herlihy & Corey, 2005;Remley & Herlihy, 2005) and practice within specific climates such as managed care (Daniels, 2001), or has promoted a general focus on applied ethics in community settings (Lewis, Lewis, Daniels, & D'Andrea, 2003). Daniels's (2001) review of Cooper and Gottlieb's (2000) work illustrates some of the specific ethical issues that may arise for counselors working within managed care environments and, as such, draws attention to the ways that external forces may interact with ethical standards and practice.…”

“…Furthermore, the majority of the literature that has focused on applying ethics to practice has primarily targeted general counseling practice (Corey et al, 2007;Ford, 2000;Herlihy & Corey, 2005;Remley & Herlihy, 2005) and practice within specific climates such as managed care (Daniels, 2001), or has promoted a general focus on applied ethics in community settings (Lewis, Lewis, Daniels, & D'Andrea, 2003). Daniels's (2001) review of Cooper and Gottlieb's (2000) work illustrates some of the specific ethical issues that may arise for counselors working within managed care environments and, as such, draws attention to the ways that external forces may interact with ethical standards and practice. It is in this manner that the contextual nature of ethics related to managed care environments is promoted, thus contributing to the knowledge that the application of ethics must be understood in relation to varying work climates.…”