The Implications of Managed Care for Social Work Education

Abstract

The advent of various forms of managed care means unprecedented changes for health and mental health service delivery and, by extension, for educators training those who deliver these services. Although the medical and nursing fields have begun to respond to these changes, social work has not. Yet managed care brings implications for every aspect of the social work curriculum; social workers must not only understand its impact, but be prepared to assume an expanding role in evolving systems. This paper examines the evolution and current status of managed care, describes the content areas most relevant to social work education, and offers mechanisms by which educators can incorporate material on managed care.

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Notes on contributors

Kimberly Strom-Gottfried

An earlier version of this article was presented at the Annual Program Meeting of the Council on Social Work Education, Washington, DC, February 1996. The author wishes to thank Richard J. Bond Jr., adjunct professor at the Simmons College School of Social Work, for his contributions in the development of this article.