Styles of case management: the philosophy and practice of case managers

A great deal of discussion and research has gone into defining and clarifying the role of "case manager" (CM) for persons with severe mental illness. This three state survey examines the philosophy and activities of practicing CMs in an attempt to identify current styles of case management. A cluster analysis based on CM rankings of five CM functions suggested four styles of case management: "supportive social workers", "individual therapist", "therapist broker", and "community advocate". Overall, CMs rated supportive interventions as most important and formal psychotherapy as relatively unimportant. CM style was related to CM activity (i.e., distribution of effort). Differences between states are noted and implications for future research are discussed.