Case Management Approaches in Mental Health Services

Case management in mental health services encompasses systematic planning, coordination and monitoring of care for individuals with complex needs. Originating in community psychiatry, models range from brokerage and clinical case management to intensive approaches such as Assertive Community Treatment. Key functions include comprehensive assessment, individualised care planning, linkage to psychosocial and vocational resources, crisis intervention and regular review. Interdisciplinary teams—often comprising psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and peer support specialists—work collaboratively to ensure continuity of care across inpatient, outpatient and community settings. Evidence demonstrates that effective case management can reduce hospital readmissions, enhance treatment adherence, improve social functioning and support recovery. Globally, adaptation to local service infrastructures has fostered innovations in digital monitoring, peer-led models and integration of physical health. Amid growing emphasis on personalised and recovery-oriented care, case management remains central to bridging gaps between acute care and community support, enabling more equitable access and smoother transitions for service users.

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Case Management Approaches in Mental Health Services publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in case management approaches in mental health services across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Case management: A coordinated approach to assessing, planning, facilitating and advocating for patients’ health and social services to meet complex needs.

Assertive Community Treatment (ACT): An intensive, team-based model providing outreach, 24/7 support and low staff-to-client ratios to individuals with severe mental illness.

Care coordination: The deliberate organisation of patient care activities and information sharing among all participants involved in a patient’s care to achieve safer and more effective outcomes.

Continuity of care: Ensuring seamless progression of healthcare services over time and across different settings to maintain therapeutic relationships and treatment consistency.

Recovery-oriented practice: A framework that emphasises personal strengths, hope, self-determination and community inclusion rather than solely symptom reduction.

References

1. Rehospitalisation rates after long-term follow-up of patients with severe mental illness admitted for more than one year: a systematic review. BMC Psychiatry (2023).
2. Hospital and patient factors influencing the health status among patients with schizophrenia, thirty days after hospital discharge: multi-level analysis. BMC Psychiatry (2020).