Application: Creating a Service Plan
In the field of case management, planning is used to identify chronological steps that can be taken to improve a client’s current situation. This process, known as “creating a service plan,” establishes short-term objectives that help clients to meet long-term goals. Short-term objectives should be specific, task-oriented actions that clients can accomplish.
Case managers tend to model objectives around the format developed by Abraham Maslow in 1943. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs involves a set of increasingly complex needs building upon each other, signifying that, without first fulfilling basic needs, more sophisticated ones cannot be met. Beginning with the basic needs of food, water, and shelter, case managers allow clients to fulfill the overwhelming needs that may be affecting their current situation. Once these immediate needs are addressed, case managers can then create short-term objectives revolving around safety, belonging, and esteem. As clients meet these objectives, they come closer to reaching and sustaining their established long-term goals. Many long-term goals created for clients correspond with Maslow’s highest level of need: self-actualization. Self-actualization describes a person’s ability to achieve his or her full potential. Case managers should work collaboratively with their clients to fulfill a long-term goal such as this.
In this week’s Assignment, you develop service plans for your three case studies, which you will continue to use for the remainder of the course.
To Prepare for this Assignment:
- Review Chapter 6, “Specialized Practice Skills” from the Course Text. Focus on the information about client assessment and setting goals.
- Review the article “Case Managers’ Perspectives on What They Need to do Their Job.” Consider the areas about which case managers report wanting additional training.
- Review the media titled Virtual Client Case Files.
- Review the Case Management Service Plan Form.
- Consider potential needs and goals of each of your case management clients.
- Think about service plans you will create for each.
The Assignment (3 completed client forms)
- Develop a service plan for each of your three cases.
- Note: For the first case depicting the family group, you will need to represent each client on the same form, as they are all a part of one case.