A STUDY OF APPROACHES FOR IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF CARE MANAGERS

2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 14510251
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: 社会学(含社会福祉関係)
• Research Institution: DEN-EN CHOFU GAKUEN UNIVERSITY
• Principal Investigator: BABA Junko DEN-EN CHOFU GAKUEN UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF HUMAN WELFARE, LECTURER, 人間福祉学部, 講師 (70310430)
• Project Period (FY): 2002 – 2003
• Keywords: time study / care management / care manager / the Long Term Care Insurance Plan / home care / quality of care / education and training / care for the elderly

Research Abstract

In order to fully comprehend and understand the work content of care managers working under the Home Care Division within the Long Term Care Insurance Plan, a time study (37 cases) was conducted for a period of one month regarding the daily working conditions of care managers. This study, specifically focused on the actual working conditions of care management to improve the quality of care managers and to find and develop methods to improve the skill level of care managers in order to maintain and enhance the quality of care. Work was coded based on the care management process and the aggregate working hours were calculated based on the everyday record of the type of work provided by the care managers, toward whom, using what method and for how long. As a result, the following can be stated : (1)By looking at the hours actually worked, 51% of the care managers had other work and worked as care managers concurrently (hereafter "Concurrent Job Holders"). The average number of hours work ed overall was 191 hours 37 minutes, the maximum being 332 hours 34 minutes and the minimum at 108 hours. The Concurrent Job Holder care managers averaged 211 hours and although there was not a significant difference in the number of cases (averaging at 54.3) between the full-time and Concurrent Job Holders, the Concurrent Job Holders only had 2/3rds the number of days off compared to the full-timers making the number of hours actually worked by Concurrent Job Holder care managers substantially greater, (2)By looking at the content of the work, Concurrent Job Holder care managers spent longer hours on work which Is the core of care management, such as assessment, developing care plans and monitoring than the full-time care managers. Further, the amount of work other than care management showed substantial increase for both Concurrent Job Holder care managers and full-time care managers. Such work covers a high percentage at an average of 31% of the overall work and for the Concurrent Job Holder care managers specifically, 37% of their work, and (3)In general, a meeting of those in charge of each service is not being held.
Further, in England, the education and research of care managers focuses on (1)the development, maintenance and evaluation of systems and structures to promote the rights, responsibilities and diversity of people, (2)management of services which achieves the best possible outcome for the individual, (3)management and use of financial resources and (4)management of the performances of the team and individual. Acquisition of credits of such subjects are mandatory to become a registered care manager. The results of the time-study should be further evaluated in detail, and referring to the data and situation of England, the development program of the education and research of care managers in Japan, together with the improvement of the working environment such as the deduction of the number of cases should also be re-evaluated.