Burnout Case Study: Case Management

Introduction Case management is a great, beneficial service for many in need – including those with mental illness, in foster care, developmentally and intellectually disabled, senior citizens, and physically disabled. Case management services take on many forms and roles, consisting of advocate, teacher, role model, counselor, motivator, life guide and coach, and moral support. What happens to case managers that have difficulty with managing their time, care, and utilization of supports available to them? Unfortunately, there is an approximate average of two-year life-span of a case manager before burnout occurs. Using the appropriate tools, management skills, and resources, burnout is preventative.
Burnout Statistics Burnout is defined
Case managers are responsible for many aspects of a consumer’s case (primary management of case – which may include service acquisition, housing, benefit utilization, etc). Case managers tend to be the go to person when something happens (positive or negative) and are expected to provide immediate support and help the consumer resolve and deal the situation. Along with this comes documentation expectations, which is set by the organization or reimbursement entity, to prove work completed as well as progression that is outcome based. This is evident in a study completed by Kraus and Stein (2013), which indicates “Professionals in community mental health face structural and systematic barriers to providing support services to consumers, including large caseloads, low salaries, and substantial amounts of paperwork. These conditions frequently result in high job turnover, lower levels of job satisfaction and higher reports of professional burnout among agency staff” (p. 8). In 2006, Yang, Garis, and McClure indicated, “One of the difficult issues facing project staff is the slow progress hard-to-serve elders make. Clinicians must be patient and identify small evidence of progress” (p. 77). Overbearing caseloads can cause burnout as well, decreased case manager’s ability to focus and provide quality care. Yamatani, Engel, and Spjeldnes (2009) states,
Meldrum and Yellowlees (2000) completed their study and used the CLM – Clinical load monitoring scale (a database which provided information that helped to determine caseloads, consumer needs, and prevention of case manager burnout), “Analysis of the database has determined the levels of low, medium, and heavy service users in each of the two continuing care teams. Each client who records heavy service use each month is recorded in a separate database and if such use continues for a 3-month period, the client is then reviewed for transfer from the continuing care team into the Mobile Intensive Treatment Team. Those clients who have recorded a load score of fewer than 10 for 3 consecutive months are further investigated for discharge from case management.”