ABSTRACT
References 183
Social work, like any professional or occupational group, is inseparable from the organizational and legislative context in which it takes place since this defines the parameters of practice. Prior to the introduction of care/case management, descriptions of social work in services for adults, including older people, tended to focus on profession-specific activities, to the neglect of outputs such as the function of linking the individual to networks of care. Moreover, social work with older people, including those with dementia, was typically short term (Hunter et al., 1990). Assessments were often undertaken in a relatively narrow and service-oriented fashion, followed by an allocation of service prior to closure (Challis, 2003). Continuing management of long-term problems for people living in the community was neglected. The advent of care/case management has required a useful redefinition of social work in relation to long-term care of older people. It can be most simply defined as a strategy for organizing and co-ordinating care services at the level of the individual. Care/case management therefore involves mobilizing and influencing various agencies and services to achieve clearly formulated goals, rather than each provider pursuing separate and perhaps diverse goals (Challis, 1993). It is helpfully understood in terms of six criteria: the performance of core tasks; effective coordination; explicit goals; a specific target population; a long-term care focus; and an impact on service development as well as individual cases. This is summarized in Box 20.1.
