WE CAN DO BETTER

I have never liked to be referred to as a case so I am not particularly fond of the term case manager, but trying to change common terminology only leads to more confusion and we already have enough of that in the mental health field. There are many ways to deliver case management services and they go by an assortment of names. Some of the names are intensive case management, supportive case management, assertive community treatment teams, broker/advocacy case management, wraparound case management, and clinical case management. Clinical case management is a model where the case manager is also the person’s primary therapist. Trying to define all the others would be futile because they mean slightly different things depending on where they are being put into practice and the resources available to the system implementing the model. They are also put together in varying ways in different systems across this country. The point is I cannot say supportive case management and everyone understand the word in the same way. The simple truth is we have an array of case management concepts implemented across this country working to varying degrees.
I want to suggest a team approach for those of us with a severe and persistent mental illness based on the idea that we are bio-psycho-social-spiritual beings.
Bio: The team needs a primary care physician, a nurse, and a psychiatrist.
Psycho: The team needs a psychologist preferably with a doctoral degree.
Social: The team needs social workers, rehab specialists, peers, and an advocate/broker case manager.
Spiritual: The team needs a pastor, minister, chaplain or some way to get to the spiritual care of their choosing.
This may sound grandiose, but preventive care and ongoing excellent care is less costly in the long run than poor care and hospitalizations.
We can do better and the truth is we have the moral obligation to do so.