The importance of research in case management is being promoted with the launch of a new initiative.
The Journal Club, launched by CMSUK, is encouraging case managers to engage with research as a way to increase their depth of knowledge, helping to develop their specialism and expertise further still.
Case managers will be encouraged to read research papers and other evidence in key areas of work, with The Journal Club providing a forum for discussion and analysis, as well as support in analysing and interpreting documents.
The Journal Club, set to be launched next month, is a first-of-its-kind initiative, which builds on CMSUK’s commitment to supporting research.
Each year it commits funding to research projects in an array of areas of relevance to case management, which for 2020 saw it fund the creation of three projects to analyse telerehabilitation and its importance within the profession.
The projects were commissioned due to a lack of existing research in this area, and has enabled case managers to now have evidence to consult in their continuing use of telerehabilitation.
“Our aim is to promote the research agenda among case managers and encourage more conversations and critical thinking,” says Dr Devdeep Ahuja, director of CMSUK who leads its research sub-committee.
“If people do read research, often they tend to read the conclusion and avoid the really meaty section, but that is what we want to encourage. That is where we can find the information which can be so important to what we do.
“Through The Journal Club, we will look at evidence and encourage case managers to read papers, giving guidance on how to analyse it effectively and prompting greater thinking in these areas.”
The breadth of areas of specialist work covered by case management means that research can help improve understanding of topics, says Dr Ahuja.
“As case managers, we have to deal with many different areas of work on behalf of our clients and their individual needs, which can see us working on cases which include physiotherapy, psychology, surgery, building adaptations, and many other complex areas,” he says.
“We have to take very significant decisions, we have to weigh up the information and ask is it going to be appropriate? Is it going to move us towards our goal for our client?
“It is very difficult to understand what is best practice in these areas without turning to what has been published. By looking at research and evidence-based practice, it can help us to better help our clients.
“If we are making a recommendation to an insurer for a high-value intervention, we can do that more confidently if we have read the research in this area and have a greater understanding as a result.”
Following its launch in early 2021, Dr Ahuja hopes The Journal Club will encourage greater discussion among the CMSUK and wider case management community.
“We have always been committed to promoting research and make grant money available every year to support that, but we hope The Journal Club will enable research to be adopted more widely,” he says.
“In the long-term, we would hope that habitual reading of papers would become more common, as in doing so, we can all learn so much. If we can then have conversations around our knowledge and what we have learned, then we can help to develop best practice.”
