Navigating through life after rehab can be stressful. Individuals will need to locate a safe place to live and enlist the help of therapists or physicians to continue their care. Once the individual becomes clean and sober, they’ll want to make new friends who have the same goal of a commitment to recovery. Case management becomes vital in helping individuals get through this challenging period.

The case manager’s profession will be a therapist, social worker, or counselor who has specialized training and certifications in this field. The case manager will act as your guide to the process of re-join the community after their stay at a rehabilitation center. Once the individual finishes treatment, they will be assigned to a case manager who works with them on a one on one basis to help find the resources needed to stay on track with the recovery program.

Roll of Case Management During the Treatment Process

The case manager is an advocate who manages patients with complex issues and draws up customized treatment options for after the detox and rehabilitation process. Case management is a form of social work, but the position does not involve social work training. Instead, it consists of working with multiple disciplines to help patients get the services they need to remain involved with their healthy, sober lifestyle. The case manager has become increasingly popular since the 1980s, especially for individuals overcoming addiction. 

Types of Treatment Case Management Include:

• Strength-based perspective
• Clinical/Rehabilitation
• Broker/Generalist
• Assertive community perspective 

Types of Case Management Services:  

• Developing case plans
• Evaluating progress
• Determining eligibility for benefits
• Screening and assessment
• Brokering for resources

Case managers are intertwined with multiple therapeutic and medical practices, which include helping ex-convicts, individuals with mental illness, individuals who are currently or formerly homeless, and individuals overcoming addiction. 

The case management role will require advocating for all resources to assist, which include help with prescription medications, doctor’s appointments, job retraining, housing, and more. Case managers will work with multiple patients at once through centers like a hospital or charity group. The focus, though, however, will be on one particular practice, like substance abuse. 

Case managers will have core competencies which include:

• Understanding addiction and substance abuse, particularly as they relate to finding treatments and other resources.
• Describing philosophies and scientific approaches to the patient to help them focus on treatment.
• Recognizing the importance of family, community, and social networks during the treatment and recovery plan.
• Maintaining a working knowledge of treatment options, which include government, insurance, and others.
• Understanding diverse cultures and incorporating cultural differences as a form of supporting treatment instead of working against it.
• Appreciating of promoting the interdisciplinary approach to addiction treatment.

Case Management Models

There are four basic types of case management which include:

• Broker: These case managers link their patients with appropriate services as quickly as possible. The case manager will provide a few direct services beyond the first assessment. Finally, once the needs have been determined, a broker will get referrals to different agencies, which include drug testing services, work training, and residential housing. The broker will often be found in settings that involve a high volume of clients such as hospitals or probation courts.
• Strength-Based Perspective: This case management form will develop a long-term relationship between the case manager and the individual. They will work together while developing a treatment plan based on the individual’s strengths and focus on treatment processes that involve building on those strengths. This includes non-institutional treatments like spiritual direction or complementary medicine.
• Assertive Community Treatment: This case management form will involve meeting the individual in their natural setting like a home or a familiar place. The case management system will focus on daily living needs like prescription medications, income, housing, and help for children if needed. The individual will meet with the case manager frequently and regularly. This will build a relationship with both the client and case manager maintaining a long-term commitment to the management of the individual substance use disorder any co-occurring mental health issues.
• Clinical: During this case management form, the individual will work with the case manager, who will provide integrated clinical treatments along with managing resources. These forms of treatment will include therapy, skills development, counseling, intervention, and others. This is also a long-term type of case management due to the process of relationship-building between the case manager and the client working towards healing.

What Case Management Can Do

The case manager will be expected to provide six primary types of assistance, especially for individuals in substance abuse rehab settings. These case management types of support will include:

• Screening and Assessment: This is an initial assessment for any new client. This process will involve determining the condition chemistry, treatment needs, and ultimate goals per individual enrolled.
• Brokering for Resources: The case manager takes the information gathered during the assessment and begins contacting services through the Social Security Administration, insurance, Department of Health, community partners, vocational rehab, and child welfare if needed.
• Develop Case Plans: The main goal of case management, whether short term or long term, is helping individuals find the resources needed to become self-sufficient and healthy. The case plan is a blueprint created by the case manager with extensive input from the individual. Most case management models will need confirmation of agreement with the program. Each step of the plan will show how the individual uses resources to overcome addiction, find housing, work, and maintain a sober lifestyle.
• Determine Benefits Eligibility: Once the plans have been agreed to, the individual and the case manager will fill out paperwork to apply for benefits. These include Social Security or disability benefits, Medicaid or Medicare, food stamps, insurance coverage, or even charity helps. In some instances, they may also contact support groups like churches or non-medical treatment services.
• Progress Evaluation: The case manager will maintain contact with the individual receiving updates on progress while gathering progress reports from outside services like therapists or rehab centers. The case manager will use milestones to track the individual’s growth and then determine how effective the treatment plan has been and whether it should be reevaluated.
• Recording Case Progress: Individuals will track their process on a long-term basis by leaving a paper trail. If the individual leaves the case management plan but then returns later, they’ll pick back up on the original method at their level of completion and overall effectiveness. This process may also help to develop a new program, or they may stick to the original plan.

How Case Management Can Help

The case management role will help the individual make a smooth transition moving out of rehab back into the world outside of the treatment center. The process can become complicated for individuals who are suffering from a co-occurring psychiatric illness. Case managers will help individuals in the aftercare phase of rehab in the following ways:

• Helping the individual find help from a mental health care professional.
• Helping the individual find a physician to manage psychiatric and anti-addiction medications.
• Referring individuals to an outpatient support group and 12 step meetings.
• Providing connections to sober living homes and other halfway house living centers.
• Referring individuals to family therapists or marriage counselors who assist with broken personal relationships.
• Giving individuals access to job placement services or vocational counseling.

Substance abuse and addiction will alter all aspects of life, from your mental and physical health, finances, career, and legal status. Similarly, case management professionals will have the training, flexibility, and knowledge to help individuals fit all these pieces of life back together after completing a rehabilitation program.

When is Case Management Needed?

Individuals who are overcoming substance abuse and work with the case manager are more capable of coordinating several outpatient treatment programs. These services may include detox and outpatient rehab, but it may also add a continuation of care after the inpatient rehab stay. 

They’ll assist with finding a place in the sober living home, getting transportation to therapy, receiving prescription medications, and finding support groups are other services case managers can help with.

Although anybody overcoming addiction can benefit from a case management program, studies show that adolescents and young adults usually benefit the most. This will also include older adults and elderly individuals who have relapsed previously, individuals diagnosed with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders, and individuals who have struggled with polydrug abuse

Finding a Case Manager

Case management services can be obtained through community health centers, detached facilities, and hospitals. Comprehensive addiction treatment programs will provide access to case managers upon registering for aftercare. Individuals searching for a rehab program advised to look for treatment centers and include this valuable service.

Here at Ken Seeley Rehab Center, we recognize and understand the critical role that case management plays into our patient’s successful recovery. Our team will connect you with a qualified case manager who will guide you through the complexities of life in the outside world. 

They will help you schedule follow up appointments and refer you to sober living facilities along with alumni programs. Case managers will also assist you in bridging the gap between addiction and sobriety.

Case management is most beneficial for individuals recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. It is still especially crucial for individuals who are also learning to cope with symptoms of depression, anxiety, or other psychiatric disorders. Contact our admission coordinator’s here or call Ken Seeley Rehab Centers to learn more about how our team uses case management as part of a comprehensive recovery plan.