Managed care and its implications for social work curricula reform: clinical practice and field instruction

Managed care continues to be a major focus and debate within the health care field. Regardless of whether one is for or against managed care, it has become the predominant system for distributing finite health care resources. Many academicians and practitioners point to the uncertainty about the future of health care, and the role of social workers to practice within these new environments, schools of social work will need to integrate content related to managed care. Students should be exposed to a more balanced analysis of what is advantageous and problematic with managed care. This paper offers recommendations regarding ways in which the practice and field curriculum can be strengthened to more effectively prepare social workers for practice within a managed care environment.