Case managers are also known as human and social service assistants, counsel individuals in challenging situations. They help create recovery and treatment plans, recognize service providers, evaluate client outcomes, and cooperate with other human and health services providers., therefore, they need to have a caring heart, be critical thinkers, and understand human behavior and nature (Mwandala, 2021).
People who have completed a bachelor’s degree in psychology are well fitted to excel as case managers. Case managers have numerous responsibilities; they include evaluating new customers to establish the perfect course of care and obtaining statistical information on the wellness of different programs and therapies. They also coordinate facilities and care providers and offer the customer occupational therapy, physical therapy, and other treatment choices. Case managers also collaborate with human and social services to establish client care. They often communicate with clients and their close individuals concerning the treatment and options within the customer’s main interest. According to Keibler (2019), a case manager’s average salary ranges between $8.25 to $45.15 per hour based on the manager’s type, geographical area, and employee’s experience and education levels.
A case manager works in various environments, including shelters, hospitals, offices, and clinics. It is worth noting that their workday varies enormously. It often includes visiting clients’ residential as needed, walking, and standing around a clinic with a customer. Additionally, driving between clinics and facilities to look after clients, sit at an office on a desktop, complete paperwork, and meet with clients. It is worth noting that numerous job adverts for Case managers are posted in Houston (Case Manager Jobs in Houston, TX, 2021).
According to the job description of the advertised positions, the Case Manager will help customers with numerous concerns, although not limited to financial aid, obtaining subsequent housing, or retaining current housing (Tahan et al., 2020). Consequently, they will decide client qualifications for rental support to prevent the spread of coronavirus among homeless individuals. Case managers will also choose client qualifications for rental support for those individuals staying in close quarters while still with other individuals, although not in their immediate household.
The responsibilities and duties of the job description include; determining and evaluating degree and nature of requirement through the accomplishment of a needs assessment when effective, tracking referrals requested on the customer’s behalf to other societies programs and organizations, monthly information entry into the Harris county customer systems, attending training, meeting, talk with direct reports, reading procedures ad policy, when appropriate and necessary conducting home visits, interacting with apartment personnel and landlords, participating in marketing and outreach agencies to under-served locations of the county, maintaining and creating a working relationship with the general public, administrators, co-workers, and workers from partner agencies, lastly, performing other tasks as assigned.
If I were the case manager, I would use the DSM-5 from the mental measurements. Therefore, applying the DSM-5 in five-axis. Axis I: clinical disorders, this is the diagnosis, for example, social phobia, depression, and schizophrenia. It is worth noting that these may come and go depending on the client: Axis II: personality disorder and developmental disorder. Developmental disorders include mental retardation and autism. Such conditions are more evident in infants.
Moreover, as a case manager, when dealing with such clients, I should consent that clients with personality disorders are significantly impacted by the symptoms and thus impacted on how they interact with the world; for example, the individuals are usually antisocial and paranoid. In the DSM-5, Axis III contains the General medical state. Physical state plays a significant part in the exacerbation, development, or continuance of Axis II and I disorder. These are critical when a challenge seems to be behavioral or mental since, once in a while, psychological challenges are the primary cause of the disorder.
Environmental and psychosocial challenges are highlighted in the Axis IV of the DSM-5. As a case manager, it is essential to understand the events in a client’s life, for example, death of the beloved, poverty, beginning a new school or work, and dysfunctional families, which could have several impacts on the individual’s capability to function. It is worth noting that it can affect the illness highlighted in Axis II and I. Axis V of the DSM-5 includes the World evaluation of function estimate.
Notably, the clinician evaluates the individual’s extent of functioning at the highest and present times within the preceding year. It is important since it helps understand how the above four axes impact the individual and what kind of interchanges that be anticipated. Therefore, as a clinical manager reading the rates going from as low as 10, I will understand the client is at risk of severely hurting others or themselves. When the rates reach 100, the client functions a superior range of activities. Hence, as a case manager, I will effectively advocate for the best options that fit the client’s best interest.
Reference
Case manager job in Houston, TX. Indeed. (2021). Web.
Keibler, T. (2019). Reflection from the perspective of an advocate and case manager. Innovation in Aging, 3(Suppl 1), S627.
Mwandala, T. (2021). Roles, training, and qualifications of a case manager in the Canadian Health Care Industry: A narrative review. Professional Case Management, 26(1).
Orchard, C., Carnide, N., Smith, P., & Mustard, C. (2021). The association between case manager interactions and serious mental illness following a physical workplace injury or illness: A cross-sectional analysis of workers’ compensation claimants in Ontario. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 1-8.
Tahan, H. M., Kurland, M., & Baker, M. (2020). Understanding the increasing role and value of the professional case manager: A national study from the commission for case manager certification: Part 1. Professional Case Management, 25(3), 133-165.