A Case Manager, or Social Service Assistant, is responsible for helping those with chronic illness, mental health issues or life-altering conditions to gain access to rehabilitation programs and other community services. Their duties include meeting with clients and their families, connecting clients with professional services and maintaining consistent communication with clients to assess their wellbeing and make changes to their treatment plan as needed.
A Case Manager should be able to fulfill various duties and responsibilities. The following are some duties and responsibilities a Case Manager should be able to execute:
- Assessing clients’ physical and mental wellness, needs, preferences and abilities and using these to develop tailored care plans
- Working with clients, family and friend support networks and health care professionals to put care plans in place
- Listening to clients’ concerns and providing counseling or intervention as required
- Recording clients’ progress including charting referrals, home visits and other notable interactions
- Evaluating clients’ progress periodically and making adjustments as needed to improve outcomes
- Following up with discharged clients to ensure they were satisfied with services and they are still in good physical and mental health
A competitive Case Manager will have certain skills and qualifications, including:
- Compassionate and able to relate to different clients with various needs
- Motivational to encourage clients to follow their care plans
- Strong verbal and written communication skills to explain to clients, family members and friends and professionals the case and care plan and maintain good case records
- Critical thinking and problem solving to determine the best care plan for each client after assessing clients, analyzing notes from health care and social workers
- Flexibility to change care plans if they are not getting the best results
- Organization to manage several different cases at once
