Abstract
Although case management is an important component of treatment for persons with major mental illnesses, little is known about who works in case management, what functions are performed and how much occupational stress case managers experience. Mental health case managers (CM's) throughout the state of Oregon (N=216) completed an inventory of case management functions and the job dissatisfaction and occupational stress scales of the Medical Personnel Stress Survey-Revised. The average expected tenure for a CM was 11 years, although one fifth expect to be a CM for four years or less. CM's spend 36% of their time performing administrative tasks, 20% in therapy, 17% with skills training, and 18% in case coordination tasks. CM level of education was associated with a different distribution of effort across case management functions. Greater job dissatisfaction was associated with specialized training, larger case load size and greater intention to leave the position. Consumer CM's demonstrated equivalent levels of job satisfaction as their non-consumer colleagues. The relevance of the project's findings for human resource management are discussed.
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The contents of this publication were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation and Research, Department of Education cooperative agreement number H133B00011, and the National Institute of Mental Health, Systems Development and Community Support Branch. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute and do not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
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Hromco, J.G., Lyons, J.S. & Nikkel, R.E. Mental health case management: Characteristics, job function, and occupational stress. Community Ment Health J 31, 111–125 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02188761
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02188761