Abstract
Care management is the process of planning and coordinating care to assist individuals or families in managing their health. This may involve managing inpatient or outpatient medical care or helping with other household, legal, or financial needs. Care management service providers are challenged in knowing how best to allocate limited resources (i.e. care manager time) to best meet client needs. Research shows predictors for increased care management needs include advanced age, multiple comorbidities, frequent care transitions, and private insurance coverage, but the association of objectively measured functional assessments and care management hour utilization is unknown. This secondary data analysis aimed to identify factors that predict the amount of care management service among low-income older adults enrolled in a care management program. We used de-identified care management data from the electronic health record at 1 social service agency. We used multivariate regression to predict the number of hours of care management utilization from demographics, comorbidities, intake ADLs/IADLs, physical health, and self-reported quality of life. We found moderate to strong correlations between physical health and quality of life (r=0.58) and activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living (r=0.81). Baseline self-reported quality of life predicted the number of hours of care management utilization (p=.03; beta = 6.75). Quality of life can be useful in predicting the number of service hours that a particular client may require from a care management program and should be considered as an intake question to assist social service providers in allocating hours adequately to clients.
The impact of a multidisciplinary self-care management program on quality of life, self-care, adherence to anti-hypertensive therapy, glycemic control, and renal function in diabetic kidney disease: A Cross-over Study Protocol
