Table 5 Qualitative Study Designs – Case Manager Roles

Minkman et al., 2009 [29]

The Netherlands

N = 16

Eight regional dementia care provider networks with two respondents from each programme (manager and case manager)

No intervention. Article conducts a multiple case study of case management programs in various regions in the Netherlands to determine their effectiveness. Inclusion criteria included: Case management had to have been implemented for at least 1 year, program documentation such as aims and planning had to be available, and programs had to work with multiple case managers focusing particularly on dementia patients and their caregivers living in the community.

N/A

• Questionnaire (based on a non-systematic literature review for international studies in dementia care). Seven categories: programme history, motives and tasks, patient group and caseload, background and capacities, process, collaboration and implementation success and fail factors.

• Semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Guide was developed and reviewed by experts from the National Dementia Programme

• The motives, aims and main characteristics of case management were comparable.

• All programmes offered services that focused on increasing the continuity and integration of primary, speciality, mental and long-term health care

• Differences in models were in terms of the targeted dementia patient groups as well as the background of the case managers and their position in the local dementia care provider network.

• Similarities were identified in terms of vision, tasks, processes and partners.

• Factors for success included the expert knowledge of case managers, investment in a strong provider network and coherent conditions for effective inter-organisational cooperation to deliver integrated care.

Future research is recommended on the effects of case management in dementia care that focuses on the individual level of clients and caregivers and the organisation level of the care network. It is also recommended that a cost-effectiveness evaluation be undertaken and outcomes such as caregiver burden, problematic behaviours and well-being and depression be measured.