The Practice of Case Management by Peter Camilleri Di Gursansky Rosemary Kennedy

Author:Peter Camilleri, Di Gursansky, Rosemary Kennedy [Peter Camilleri, Di Gursansky, Rosemary Kennedy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781742370446
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2012-06-01T00:00:00+00:00

However, case conferences are not panaceas for the problems of inter-agency work, and need to be approached with thought and care. It takes very considerable group-work skill to organise and conduct a case conference that is completed within a reasonable time and in which every participant is fully heard and has a chance to contribute substantively to the decisions made.

In planning a case conference, the most relevant participants need to be identified. A meaningful and strategically formulated agenda that accommodates service and participant sensitivities or preoccupations should be constructed. Paperwork relevant to each item, which ensures that all participants arrive informed and prepared, should be developed. Decisions need to be made about whether or not the client, family, carers and others attend or not, for all or part of the conference, what is expected of them in the conference (e.g. to give or receive information; to hear a decision or help make it) and how they are to be supported during it. Logistical arrangements must be made—for example, about where the conference is to be held and on whose territory, what time is most suitable, whether refreshments are necessary, whether there is adequate privacy and so on. Decisions about chairing responsibilities must be made and strategies implemented for managing conflict or distress in the meeting and establishing an environment that encourages honest discussion. Minute-taking also must be arranged.

In a conference that is not well managed, the least helpful voices generally prevail—often the loudest or highest status or most negative about options for the client. In these conferences, the main agenda for service representatives will often be to protect themselves and their service from having to deal with the ‘difficult client’ under consideration. Whether or not relevant people attend and participate seriously in a case conference will depend a great deal on the credibility of those organising and chairing the conference. Independently of chairing skill, some professionals—for example, medical doctors—seldom attend unless paid to do so, and there are also problems with finding mutually convenient times and places for conferences (Bell et al. 2007).

In summary, case conferences can be extremely helpful; however, they may not be possible given professionals’ time and financial expectations, and they do require special skills. There are creative ways around the impediments to a fully fledged case conference. For example, brief written statements or summaries of phone conversations may be used in lieu of personal attendance. Participating members may be tasked to follow up with people who cannot attend and report back. Very good conference notes, which are detailed as to information and action and circulated quickly, can partially compensate for non-attendance. Case managers who are not confident about their chairing skills may seek the assistance of a skilled and objective colleague to chair a conference on their behalf. It is more likely that other service providers, unenthusiastic about case conferences, will attend if they know that the conference is to be chaired well, finish on time and result in clear decisions. Case conferences, like so much else in case management, do not just happen.

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