Consensus over casemanagement bij dementie

Abstract

Title: Consensus on case management for people with dementia

Authors: Paul-Jeroen Verkade, Dr. Berno van Meijel

Objective: Case management is a preferred service for people with dementia living in the community and their caregivers. The design of the case management programmes is divers in nature. The objective of this study was to identify essential components of case management for people with dementia, the right way of providing these components and essential preconditions.

Methods: A modified four-phase Delphi-research design was used to answer the research questions. After a systematic review of the literature and a focus group interview, a list of essential components of case management and preconditions for delivery has been formulated and validated in a first Delphi-round with 30 experts. The results were converted into 75 propositions which were scored by the experts in a second Delphi-round. Consensus could not be reached on 18 propositions, therefore the experts scored again on these propositions in a third Delphi-round.

Results: Finally consensus was reached on 61 of the 75 propositions. Essential components for case management for people with dementia are: informing, counseling, care coordination and practical care. A client centered approach is proposed for providing case management. Essential preconditions are: case manager-client relationship, working systematically, embedding in the local dementia care network, and education and skills training of professionals.

Conclusion: A model was developed with basic components and essential preconditions. The authors recommend to develop quality indicators for case management in dementia. Additional research is needed to test the model in practice.