What is Case Management? A Scoping and Mapping Review

Abstract

The description of case management in research and clinical practice is highly variable which impedes quality analysis, policy and planning. Case management makes a unique contribution towards the integration of health care, social services and other sector services and supports for people with complex health conditions. There are multiple components and variations of case management depending on the context and client population. This paper aims to scope and map case management in the literature to identify how case management is described in the literature for key complex health conditions (e.g., brain injury, diabetes, mental health, spinal cord injury). Following literature searches in multiple databases, grey literature and exclusion by health condition, community-based and adequate description, there were 661 potential papers for data extraction. Data from 79 papers (1988–2013) were analysed to the point of saturation (no new information) and mapped to the model, components and activities. The results included 22 definitions, five models, with 69 activities or tasks of case managers mapped to 17 key components (interventions). The results confirm the significant terminological variance in case management which produces role confusion, ambiguity and hinders comparability across different health conditions and contexts. There is an urgent need for an internationally agreed taxonomy for the coordination, navigation and management of care.

The effectiveness of case management interventions for the homeless, vulnerably housed and persons with lived experience: A systematic review

“…In the studies reviewed, the quantitative synthesis was complicated by the heterogeneity that exists across interventions. In addition, there is a lack of clarity in and overlap of the nomenclature used to define different case management interventions [12]. Furthermore, few studies provided the level of intervention detail required to make concrete recommendations with respect to the types of activities conducted, the roles and responsibilities of the case managers, and the postulated mechanisms of success that could inform future practice.…”

“…To address these barriers, people who are homeless or vulnerably housed may benefit from tailored, patient-centered care with an integrated approach to community and social services [12][13][14]. Case management (CM) is one such intervention where individual case managers respond to the complexity of navigating the healthcare system by assessing, planning and facilitating access to health and social services [15,16].…”

“…Case management (CM) is one such intervention where individual case managers respond to the complexity of navigating the healthcare system by assessing, planning and facilitating access to health and social services [15,16]. While case management interventions are heterogeneous in definition, complexity, target populations served, and modes of delivery [12], among these, four predominant models have evolved in relation to health care: standard case management (SCM), intensive case management (ICM), assertive community treatment (ACT), and critical time intervention (CTI) (See Table 1) [17].…”

The Manage Care Model – Developing an Evidence-Based and Expert-Driven Chronic Care Management Model for Patients with Diabetes

“…Individual care plans appropriate to age, clinical needs, cognitive function, level of frailty, physical level, basic, (psycho-) social and emotional determinants should be developed in collaboration with the patient and informal caregivers. The established phases of case and care management will be used to guide the shared-decision making [43].…”

Community-Based Healthcare

“…In community-based case management, the services are usually mobile rather than office-based (Lukersmith, Millington, & Salvador-Carulla, 2016). In community-based case management, the services are usually mobile rather than office-based (Lukersmith, Millington, & Salvador-Carulla, 2016).…”