Use of the Case Management Approach to Improve Social Services

for the Elderly

Prof. Jun Woo Lee (Dean of College and Graduate School of Social Welfare in Kangnam Univ.)

Prof. Ji Young Won (Kangnam Univ.)

Prof. Jun Woo Lee (Dean of College and Graduate School of Social Welfare in Kangnam Univ.)

Prof. Ji Young Won (Kangnam Univ.)

1. Introduction1. Introduction

2. Methods2. Methods

3. Results3. Results

CONTENTS

4. Conclusion4. Conclusion

5. Future Proposals5. Future Proposals

1. INTRODUCTION

1. INTRODUCTION: Rise in the Elderly Population

Korea is in the midst of a great change caused by an ‘aging society’

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Year2000 2006 2018 2026

0

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7.29.5

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SUPER-AGED SOCIETY

1. INTRODUCTION: Current Social Services

NATIONAL LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE POLICY(NLCI; 2008)

Care services for those with difficul-ties with activities

of daily living.

i.e. nursing homes, in-home care facili-

ties

Diverse services that meet the non-

medical needs for those who are able to perform most activities of daily living.

i.e. senior welfare center

1. INTRODUCTION: Problems with Current Social Services

Issues Produced

by NLCI Policy

1 The policy does not address the need for psy-chological, social and educational services

The costs approved by NLCI are limited to physical care

2

3NLCI does not pay for the development and management of specific programs for psy-chological, social and educational needs

Imbalance between health and non-health care services 4

1. INTRODUCTION

In summary, social work practices for el-derly people have experienced problems such as limited resources for programs

that address non-medical needs of people and lack of cooperation among related in-

stitutions.

1. INTRODUCTION: What is Case Management?

A process that contributes to the autonomy of ser-vices users in every practice process by building part-nerships between case managers and services users and encouraging the participation of the services user

Based on the eco-systematic perspective

Various professionals participate simultaneously in the case management process as a multi-domain team

Case management services depend on the individual efforts and personal abilities of social workers be-cause of the absence of clear case management guidelines

Case management practices are inter-preted in

variety of ways according to the social worker’s

personal level of understanding.

1. INTRODUCTION: What is Case Management?

2. METHODS

3. RESULTS

3. RESULTS: Service Users

All participants stated that they felt lonely and powerless

All participants expressed the need for non-health care services

Participants thought that the quality of health care and non-health care services depended on the professional capacities of service providers

Participants stated that preventive programs must be provided prior to care services

Most participants mentioned that they had met friends in agencies that provides supportive social network

3. RESULTS: Service Providers

Opinions about the necessity and value of case management

Generally positive responses on case management but the numbers and

ability of social workers who could practice case management were low The absence of standardized methods and guidelines for case

management were noted

Opinions about difficulties faced in the ser-vice field

Professionals and field workers have not reached an agree-ment on the

definition of case management No standardized practice guidelines or process manuals for

case management that describe the process and methods Scarce resources for serviceAbsence of systematic collaboration among professionals fieldsHeavy workload Limitations of NLCI fund

4. CONCLUSION

4. CONCLUSION

Most elderly people experience the loss of their social roles and intimate relation-ships thus, all of the research partici-pants expressed social, psychological and educational needs

Case management approach would be a useful method to improve the quality of life

Policies tend to focus only on physical needs and overlook the emotional and so-cial needs resulting imbalance between health care and non-health care services

4. CONCLUSION

For social workers, environment inside and outside the organizations are hostile to the use of case management approach to pro-vide services

Most social workers recognize case man-agement as an effective and efficient tool to improve the quality of services

Most agencies utilize case management approach but it’s far from ideal

5. FUTURE PROPOSALS

5. Future Proposals

Development of case manage-ment support system that

comprehensively manages and regulates ser-

vices

This system will reduce the bur-

den of social workers in con-

necting the needs to re-

sources

Related profes-sionals should

reach consensus on the definition of case manage-

ment and de-velop standard-

ized practice guidelines and

process manuals

Ongoing educa-tion and training in case manage-ment should be

offered to service providers

Thank You