The processes of case management: a review of the evaluation of a pilot study for elderly people in Hong Kong.
OBJECTIVE
This paper is based on research into case management that aimed to evaluate the processes of the introduction of case management for elderly people into the community nursing services in Hong Kong.


BACKGROUND
The Hospital Authority in Hong Kong introduced a pilot Case Management scheme into the Community Nursing Services. A research project was therefore developed to evaluate this case management model.


METHODS
The processes were measured through information gained from group interviews, daily diaries and weekly activity sheets.


RESULTS
The roles and work practices of the Care Coordinators and Case Managers are described and the benefits of case management to patients, carers and nurses are highlighted. Difficulties are also discussed and good practices are identified.


CONCLUSIONS
Staff in the hospital and community need time to get used to the model of case management and to the accompanying documentation. The role of the case manager needs to be clearly dilineated.
MacKenzie
A
A
Department of Nursing, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Republic of China.
Lee
D T
DT
Dudley-Brown
S
S
Chin
T M
TM
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019985:Benchmarking; D019090:Case Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003152:Community Health Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007587:Job Description; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016294:Models, Nursing; D017146:Models, Organizational; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015397:Program Evaluation