The Clinical Aspects of Case Management and its Role in Graduate Field Education

Abstract

In graduate social work education, faculty advisors together with practice instructors can improve social work students' skills to link the practical aspects of ‘work responsibilities’ to the clinical underpinnings of case management. Often students are taught the direct services (case management) with a view solely focused on the practical aspects of care, and this curtails the students' opportunity to learn the clinical interventions that exist in all components of social work: to identify, understand and apply clinical dynamics to presenting problems. The authors discuss their work in addressing case management from a clinical perspective with MSW students and recommendations for its inclusion in graduate social work programs.

Keywords:

• Field Learning
• Case Management
• Clinical Work
• Social Work Practice
• Social Work Education

Notes

^[1] Responsibilities include student advisement on academic and field matters; serving as liaison between the social work practice classroom and the field placements.

^[2] Role includes oversight of field placement assignments within organizations for groups of student interns from various schools of social work.

^[3] Teachers of social work practice, a two-semester, seven-credit course, held weekly in conjunction with students' field placements. For first year students it is taught primarily by the practice professor. The faculty advisor(s) is part of the teaching team for select classes.

^[4] Services, goods or money due to an individual by virtue of a specific status. Also, a legal obligation by government to provide payments or benefits to one who meets certain criteria (Barker, 2004).

^[5] Some examples include schools, homeless and domestic violence shelters, substance abuse programs, employment services, home care, maternal/child programs and food pantries.