Health care issues: managing services and people in home care: today's challenge

This article is the second in a series of three focusing on key management processes in home care. The first article addressed the issue of quality management and the next article looks at financial and information management. This article examines the issues of service and human resource management with an emphasis on service management. It starts by outlining some of the pressures behind the unprecedented demand for home care services and looks at a few of the strategies home care agencies can utilize to manage service demand. It then moves to a discussion of human resources, specifically the case manager. Basic qualifications, knowledge, skills, and attributes are outlined and administrators are encouraged to facilitate the ongoing development of this costly and critical resource.