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Review
. 2022 Dec 31;20(1):784.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20010784.

Demystifying Case Management in Aotearoa New Zealand: A Scoping and Mapping Review

Caroline Stretton  1   2 , Wei-Yen Chan  2 , Dianne Wepa  2   3   4
Affiliations
Review

Demystifying Case Management in Aotearoa New Zealand: A Scoping and Mapping Review

Caroline Stretton et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Community-based case managers in health have been compared to glue which holds the dynamic needs of clients to a disjointed range of health and social services. However, case manager roles are difficult to understand due to poorly defined roles, confusing terminology, and low visibility in New Zealand.

Aim: This review aims to map the landscape of case management work to advance workforce planning by clarifying the jobs, roles, and relationships of case managers in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ).

Methods: Our scoping and mapping review includes peer-reviewed articles, grey literature sources, and interview data from 15 case managers. Data was charted iteratively until convergent patterns emerged and distinctive roles identified.

Results: A rich and diverse body of literature describing and evaluating case management work in NZ (n = 148) is uncovered with at least 38 different job titles recorded. 18 distinctive roles are further analyzed with sufficient data to explore the research question. Social ecology maps highlight diverse interprofessional and intersectoral relationships.

Conclusions: Significant innovation and adaptations are evident in this field, particularly in the last five years. Case managers also known as health navigators, play a pivotal but often undervalued role in NZ health care, through their interprofessional and intersectoral relationships. Their work is often unrecognised which impedes workforce development and the promotion of person-centered and integrated health care.

Keywords: New Zealand; case management; case managers; complexity; coordinated care; integrated care; interprofessional practice; navigation; social ecology maps; whānau ora.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Matrix of complexity, client needs and capacity. (Permission to reproduce granted by the NZ Productivity Commission).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Flow of information through the review: PRISMA.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Example of ecomap for ACC Recovery Partner who focuses on child and adolescent clients.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The navigational approach of Whānau ora navigators (reproduced with permission); taken from [44].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Frankel A.J., Gelman S.R., Pastor D.K. Case Management: An Introduction to Concepts and Skills. Oxford University Press, Incorporated; Oxford, MI, USA: 2019.
    1. Sewell J. Profiling the Māori Health Workforce 2017. Te Kīwai Rangahau, Te Rau Ora; Wellington, New Zealand: 2017.
    1. Ministry of Health . Health of the Health Workforce 2013 to 2014. Ministry of Health; Wellington, New Zealand: 2015.
    1. Lukersmith S., Fernandez A., Millington M., Salvador-Carulla L. The Brain Injury Case Management Taxonomy (BICM-T); a Classification of Community-Based Case Management Interventions for a Common Language. Disabil. Health J. 2016;9:272–280. doi: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2015.09.006. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Goodwin N. Reviewing the Evidence on Case Management: Lessons for Successful Implementation. Int. J. Integr. Care. 2011;11:e146. doi: 10.5334/ijic.825. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

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