Social work practice and industrialized managed care: A case study.
Item
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Title
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Social work practice and industrialized managed care: A case study.
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Identifier
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AAI9720080
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identifier
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9720080
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Creator
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Cornelius, Donald Stanwood.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Irwin Epstein
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Date
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1997
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Social Work | Health Sciences, Health Care Management | Health Sciences, Mental Health
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Abstract
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Presented in this study are the findings from an examination of the practice experiences of a group of social workers to adapt the structures of their for-profit outpatient mental health services to the policy and economic requirements of industrialized managed care. Using the stage theory of social program development and evaluation, developed by Tripodi, Fellin and Epstein (1978) in Differential Program Evaluation and Bielawski and Epstein (1984), the study describes and evaluates the evolution of the practice through the four stages of program initiation, contact, implementation and stabilization. Discussion of the initiation stage explores the impact of the privatization and industrialization of social welfare, and the application of entrepreneurial business values and practices on service design. The contact stage is examined through the application of marketing theory and practice as a method to engage clients. Program implementation, stabilization and outcomes are discovered to be determined more by business skill and market forces than by the nature or quality of social work intervention with primary clients. The study discusses the difficulties of securing program success in a market environment unrelated to the traditional roles, skills and experiences of social work practice. Implications from the case study's findings are used to suggest ways the field of social work might influence the ongoing developments of industrialized social welfare. This study is unusual in that it describes a program that failed to achieve its intended mission of social service while attempting to maintain the professional autonomy and economic stability of its social worker principals.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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D.S.W.
