著者

野村 豊子

出版者

岩手県立大学社会福祉学部

雑誌

岩手県立大学社会福祉学部紀要 (ISSN:13448528)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.2, no.1, pp.69-79, 1999-09

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This research note provides an overview of what care conference is about. It begins by positioning care conference. Care conference is defined to have important functions in care management as mediator, supporter and realizer, of client-oriented approach. The author points out sources of confusion around care conference to be clarified in improving the effectiveness and quality of future care conference. In the second section, the development of case management concept within the context of Japan is outlined. Issues of accessibility and availability of services, which call for strategic approaches to meeting client's needs and means, are brought up. Three conceptual models of care management (Minimum Model, Coordination Model, Comprehensive Model) originally proposed by Ross (1980) are presented. Each model reflects the phase of care management, functions and goals. Third, care-package as potential focal point of care conference is considered. As a proposal of conditions towards effective care planning, Hardcastle et al. (1996)'s conceptualization of SMARRT is mentioned. SMARRT stands for Specific, Measurable, Acceptable, Realistic, Result Oriented and Time Specific. Care conference can be viewed as decision making stage of care planning in the process of care management. Care-package as home-care service plan can be one of the care plan themes to be discussed and explored. As the term speaks to itself, care management is managing care as a whole rather than case-by-case. Thus, care conference is holistic and cohesive in nature. Defining significance of care conference, then, is necessarily multiple dimensioned by the webs of human relations of individuals involved in and through the process of care conference. As the forth section, the significance of care conference is delineated in relation to client, client's families, care providers, care manager, service providers and social resource of the community. Finally, the view of care conference as collaboration among teams of multidisciplinary professionals is pursued. Teams can be classified into client team or manager's provider group, network association team and formed teams (Ovretveit 1993). Recognizing care conference as an essential procedure of care management and examining team relational patterns can contribute to make care conference more effective. As a conclusion of the research note, key issues of care conference in relation to the implementation of the new system are briefly pointed out. In addition, future necessity of developing theoretical framework of care conference is proposed.