Case management: a literature review

The achievement of an integrated system of care is one of the major goals of Canadian health care restructuring. Although many of the structural barriers to service integration have been removed, integration of care for individuals with long-term, complex health and human needs has not yet been achieved. Case management is now being considered in many countries as a method of integrating and coordinating health and social service systems. Central to the effectiveness of case management is the role of the case manager. The case manager provides clients with continuity, consistency, and coordination of care across all clinical settings and boundaries. Comprehensive case management practice requires professionals with the knowledge and skills to work within existing bureaucratic and organizational service systems. This article is a summary of the literature on long-term care case management, with a focus on Canadian studies.