Long Term Care Essay

1466 Words3 Pages

Case Management is a discipline within the Long Term Care system. Case managers help and give guidance in the planning process of developing a care plan for individuals with different diagnoses. The case manager assesses an individual, plans the care, facilitates communication between all members of the team, coordinates appropriate care, evaluates the individual, and acts as an advocate for proper communication between the patient, family members, and the interdisciplinary team (Marion et al., 2010). Case managers are individuals who have specialized in a field within the human and health services, receiving higher education, a license or certification. This education allows case managers to be able to perform assessments on their own, within …show more content…

This occurs when the individual is at their highest optimal level of self-sufficiency or a transition of care is in need. The individual can be discharged to their home or can be placed in another facility of long term care, depending on their outcome. The case manager educates the individual and their family about transitional care and a follow up assessment, sharing the necessary information during their transitional process. After the transition, the case manager checks up on the individual to see if their new form of care is catering to their needs. If problems occur or the proper care is not being given to the individual, the case manager communicates to the payers and providers to make sure that issue is resolved. The case manager then writes a summary report on various aspects of the case, relaying that information to proper members of the long-term care system …show more content…

Case managers have a great amount of power and impact on how much and what type of care a client can receive. If the case manager deems the specific care for an individual to be too expensive (even though that individual truly needs the care), they can control for that care not to occur. The case manager is the person who controls an individual’s access to care and that can be unfair. Another issue with case management is that all their clients are of completely different backgrounds. Every culture functions differently, due to their own specific customs, beliefs and traditions. Case managers truly need to keep that into consideration when creating a plan of care for the individual. Case managers need to respect the individual and realize that even though two individuals have the same disability, due to their cultural background, the situation needs to be treated differently. The treatment plan should not conflict with the traditions of the individual and their family. Ways to improve these issues is for case managers to adjust the treatment plans for those individuals who truly need specific care and for those whose treatment plans do not work well with their culture. The case manager needs to educate their clients on why the decision was made, and why that certain type of treatment is the best. In the end, the case manager needs to respect their client, and be aware of the cultural

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