Resources for Case Managers: Individual Service Planning (July 1998)

This publication is available as a downloadable PDF document (347k)

Individual Service Planning is intended to be a resource for clinical staff. The document has evolved from consultation with staff about the experience of implementing Individual Service Plans (ISPs). It acknowledges the key link with the needs for service assessment process, considers questions commonly posed by staff, explores some of the more complex issues which arise from the collaborative nature of the task and provides case studies and examples to illustrate the process.

The policy document, Improved Access through Coordinated Client Care (1994), established case management as the core feature of service delivery across Victorian public mental health services.

Case management assists clients through the interrelated steps of entry, assessment, planning, implementation, monitoring and review, and closure-the core functional components of the service delivery phase. Care is coordinated across different public mental health services and settings to ensure continuity of care. The capacity for case managers to link and collaborate with the wider health system and other relevant services is also central to a successful case management system.

The Psychiatric Services Branch has pursued a number of initiatives to assist the implementation of case management across Victorian public mental health services.

Priority has been given to training, and to providing information to staff to enhance their undertaking of case management roles and the skills needed to carry out the key functions and tasks involved.

The Consumer Information Guide-How Case Management Can Work for You (1995) was prepared to inform consumers and their families about case management. The guide aims to strengthen the capacity for consumers to participate in the collaborative work which is central to case management.

A range of practice guidelines has been developed to support case management staff in their interactions with other agencies and service systems. Included are practice guidelines assisting case managers in their work with police, drug and alcohol agencies, Protective Services and Intellectual Disability Services.

Case management is central to improving working relationships between public mental health services and general practitioners (GPs). Strategies for collaborating effectively with GPs are outlined in Sharing the Care- GPs and Public Mental Health Services (1996).

The current document, Individual Service Planning, forms part of a Resources for Case Managers series, providing additional support and information to complement the knowledge and skills of case managers in public mental health services.