Kanter Letter to NASW
To the Editor: Regarding the report in the May 2010 NASW News about
NASW's collaboration with the Case Management Society of America in
drafting case management standards, we wish to express concern about
the CMSA case management standards. Essentially, CMSA is an
organization of nurses in health care, the majority who work with
managed care and health insurers and who "manage" medical care without
face-to-face contact with consumers and families. In some instances,
these "case managers" are also involved in discharge planning from
hospitals and other facilities and the contact with patients is brief
and circumscribed. In contrast, case management in social work often
involves intimate, ongoing relationships with disabled clients, their
families and significant others. These are two very different
practice models which, unfortunately, are both identified with the
same term: "case management". Reviewing the CMSA Standards, these
essentially refer to the non-relational "care management" practices in
health care and make no reference to the extensive contributions of
social work case managers in developing relationally-based case
management practice models with the mentally ill, substance abusing,
medically disabled and geriatric populations. We encourage NASW to
withdraw any endorsement of case management standards that fail to
acknowledge the diversity of practice models and the primacy of social
work's historic emphasis on relational dynamics in professional
practice. At the same time, NASW should review its own case
management standards to ensure they reflect the diversity of practice
models and the importance of the case management relationship.
Joel Kanter, MSW, LCSW-C
Silver Spring, Maryland
Jerry Floersch, Ph.D., MSW
Jeffrey L. Longhofer, Ph.D., LCSW
Rutgers University School of Social Work
New Brunswick,
---------------
NASW News, Vol. 55, No. 5, May 2010
Standards Revision Released
NASW Helped Shape CMSA Practice Guidelines
Social workers “serve as care managers ... for clients facing a number
of challenges.”
By Matthew Malamud, News Staff
The Case Management Society of America in March released a newly
revised version of its Standards of Practice for Case Management,
which NASW helped revise as part of an interdisciplinary task force.
The CMSA Standards, introduced in 1995 and first revised in 2002, are
voluntary practice guidelines for case managers of multiple
disciplines working in a variety of health and behavioral health
settings. Among other things, they address case managers’
qualifications; assessing clients’ physical and psychosocial health;
planning and monitoring goals and evaluating outcomes; termination of
services; adhering to legal and ethical principles; advocating at all
levels on behalf of clients; cultural competency, managing resources;
and keeping abreast of current research.
As CMSA puts it in the introduction to the Standards: “While the
Standards are offered to standardize the process of case management
[which extends across all health care settings], they are also
intended to be realistically attainable by individuals who use
appropriate and professional judgment regarding the delivery of case
management services to targeted client populations.”
Many social workers function as case managers, says NASW Senior
Practice Associate Karyn Walsh. She was one of the NASW staff members
directly involved in the revision process.
“Social workers in aging, health and mental health serve as care
managers or coordinators for clients facing a number of challenges,
including illness and injury, mental and behavioral health needs, and
individual and family challenges,” Walsh told NASW News. “Clients
facing these challenges can benefit from professionally qualified case
managers who practice these standards to provide optimal services.”
The revised Standards reflect broader trends and changes occurring in
health care. For example, the standards emphasize addressing clients’
needs holistically — that is, their medical, psychosocial, behavioral
and spiritual needs; promoting clients’ and caregivers’ involvement in
the decision-making process; focusing on care coordination; and using
evidence-based guidelines when such guidelines are available.
NASW’s participation in revising the Standards, Walsh said, is evident
in the document’s use of collaborative language that reflects the
diverse professional backgrounds of both nursing and social work case
managers; enhanced psychosocial focus; content addressing case
management in mental and behavioral health and home- and
community-based care settings; and strong emphasis on cultural
competence and advocacy.
Walsh pointed out that the qualifications section’s recognition of
BSWs as professional case managers is also a result of NASW’s
collaboration.
Last August NASW had asked members to comment on a draft form of the
revised Standards.
“Many social workers — from direct service to management level in case
management — provided comments on the revised Standards,” Walsh said.
“Their views came from government, public and private sectors, and all
of the input was crucial to making the document more accurate and
timely to the practice of case management.”
Future revisions likely will build upon the evidence-based guidelines
that are proven successful in the coming years, CMSA predicts.
The Standards are available as a free download at
www.cmsa.org/Individual/MemberToolkit/StandardsofPractice/tabid/69/Default.aspx.
To the Editor: Regarding the report in the May 2010 NASW News about
NASW's collaboration with the Case Management Society of America in
drafting case management standards, we wish to express concern about
the CMSA case management standards. Essentially, CMSA is an
organization of nurses in health care, the majority who work with
managed care and health insurers and who "manage" medical care without
face-to-face contact with consumers and families. In some instances,
these "case managers" are also involved in discharge planning from
hospitals and other facilities and the contact with patients is brief
and circumscribed. In contrast, case management in social work often
involves intimate, ongoing relationships with disabled clients, their
families and significant others. These are two very different
practice models which, unfortunately, are both identified with the
same term: "case management". Reviewing the CMSA Standards, these
essentially refer to the non-relational "care management" practices in
health care and make no reference to the extensive contributions of
social work case managers in developing relationally-based case
management practice models with the mentally ill, substance abusing,
medically disabled and geriatric populations. We encourage NASW to
withdraw any endorsement of case management standards that fail to
acknowledge the diversity of practice models and the primacy of social
work's historic emphasis on relational dynamics in professional
practice. At the same time, NASW should review its own case
management standards to ensure they reflect the diversity of practice
models and the importance of the case management relationship.
Joel Kanter, MSW, LCSW-C
Silver Spring, Maryland
Jerry Floersch, Ph.D., MSW
Jeffrey L. Longhofer, Ph.D., LCSW
Rutgers University School of Social Work
New Brunswick,
---------------
NASW News, Vol. 55, No. 5, May 2010
Standards Revision Released
NASW Helped Shape CMSA Practice Guidelines
Social workers “serve as care managers ... for clients facing a number
of challenges.”
By Matthew Malamud, News Staff
The Case Management Society of America in March released a newly
revised version of its Standards of Practice for Case Management,
which NASW helped revise as part of an interdisciplinary task force.
The CMSA Standards, introduced in 1995 and first revised in 2002, are
voluntary practice guidelines for case managers of multiple
disciplines working in a variety of health and behavioral health
settings. Among other things, they address case managers’
qualifications; assessing clients’ physical and psychosocial health;
planning and monitoring goals and evaluating outcomes; termination of
services; adhering to legal and ethical principles; advocating at all
levels on behalf of clients; cultural competency, managing resources;
and keeping abreast of current research.
As CMSA puts it in the introduction to the Standards: “While the
Standards are offered to standardize the process of case management
[which extends across all health care settings], they are also
intended to be realistically attainable by individuals who use
appropriate and professional judgment regarding the delivery of case
management services to targeted client populations.”
Many social workers function as case managers, says NASW Senior
Practice Associate Karyn Walsh. She was one of the NASW staff members
directly involved in the revision process.
“Social workers in aging, health and mental health serve as care
managers or coordinators for clients facing a number of challenges,
including illness and injury, mental and behavioral health needs, and
individual and family challenges,” Walsh told NASW News. “Clients
facing these challenges can benefit from professionally qualified case
managers who practice these standards to provide optimal services.”
The revised Standards reflect broader trends and changes occurring in
health care. For example, the standards emphasize addressing clients’
needs holistically — that is, their medical, psychosocial, behavioral
and spiritual needs; promoting clients’ and caregivers’ involvement in
the decision-making process; focusing on care coordination; and using
evidence-based guidelines when such guidelines are available.
NASW’s participation in revising the Standards, Walsh said, is evident
in the document’s use of collaborative language that reflects the
diverse professional backgrounds of both nursing and social work case
managers; enhanced psychosocial focus; content addressing case
management in mental and behavioral health and home- and
community-based care settings; and strong emphasis on cultural
competence and advocacy.
Walsh pointed out that the qualifications section’s recognition of
BSWs as professional case managers is also a result of NASW’s
collaboration.
Last August NASW had asked members to comment on a draft form of the
revised Standards.
“Many social workers — from direct service to management level in case
management — provided comments on the revised Standards,” Walsh said.
“Their views came from government, public and private sectors, and all
of the input was crucial to making the document more accurate and
timely to the practice of case management.”
Future revisions likely will build upon the evidence-based guidelines
that are proven successful in the coming years, CMSA predicts.
The Standards are available as a free download at
www.cmsa.org/Individual/MemberToolkit/StandardsofPractice/tabid/69/Default.aspx.