Effectiveness of case management with severely and persistently mentally ill people

Abstract

This meta-analytic review synthesizes the findings of 24 published studies dealing with the effectiveness of case management with the severely and persistently mentally ill. Summative findings were: (1) Overall, case management interventions are effective--75% of the clients who participate in them do better than the average client who does not; (2) The estimated preventive fraction (e.g., prevention of re-hospitalization) among clients who experience relatively intense case management service (case loads of 15 or less, 89%) is nearly 30% greater than that estimated among similar clients receiving less intensive service; and (3) Various case management practice models did not differ significantly on estimated effectiveness. Important questions concerning the differential effectiveness of case management by specific program, worker, client, and client-worker relationship characteristics remain to be answered.