The National Case Management Network (NCMN) of Canada follows the credo that the key to greater success lies in educational and professional development, with no doubt that web based learning opens the doors of opportunity for busy healthcare professionals. NCMN membership provides access to a vast store of case management knowledge right at your fingertips via the Education Resource Library (ERL) through the Case Management Society of America.
NCMN has a new Education Committee dedicated to mining the ERL for the best courses most relevant to the Canadian experience to better serve a member's case management needs. "It is very powerful to not only read, but hear experts share their knowledge, wisdom, and passion for improving healthcare. Many fabulous presentations are available to NCMN members," says Kathryn Brandt, whose day job is Lead, Integrated Case Management Strategies for Seniors Health in Alberta Health Services. This is her story:
"I am a registered nurse and I currently work on a provincial policy support unit in Alberta developing practice guidelines and implementing innovative streamlined processes for case managers in continuing care. Today it is not enough to 'become' a nurse, or a social worker, or a rehabilitation therapist, or a case manager. Learning is a life-long endeavour that must be embraced by health care professionals. Opportunities to learn must be available in multiple modalities to accommodate varied learning styles, preferences, and lifestyles. I'm not able to attend as many conferences and presentations as I would like and the Education Resource Library gives me that opportunity. I have the flexibility to 'attend' conference sessions on my own time. I can fit them in to my schedule and don't have to travel to see presentations on pertinent topics, or by prominent researchers in the field of case management.
"Wellness Coaching is another seminar that really caught my interest. Margaret Moore is the co-founder of the Coaching Psychology Institute at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She is also founder and CEO of her own corporation which trains wellness coaches. This isn't just a new fad in healthcare; this is a paradigm shift that is finally infiltrating mainstream healthcare in a meaningful way. Margaret not only provides the scientific evidence base that links hope and positive emotion to health, but addresses the type of interactions that need to occur between people and their healthcare providers in order to build efficacy and positive life skills that influence capacity to improve quality of life and health."
In addition, the NCMN Education Committee has identified ERL courses pertinent to Francophone Canadians which have been translated and posted on the ERL web site. These are: Acuity and Case Management: A Healthy Dose of Outcomes, Motivational Interviewing, Outcomes of Guided Care, Wellness Coaching. Managing Difficult Conversations by Anne E. Grant has been posted in French at http://www.ncmn.ca.
Also available in French, on the CMSA website are Case Management Adherence Guidelines (CMAG), an approach specifically designed for case managers to address the national epidemic of non-adherence to medication therapies. The guidelines focus on two key areas required for adherence: motivation and knowledge. The Case Management Adherence Guidelines Workbook provides tools to assess these and, when necessary, tools for improving these key areas.
The Competency Profile and Assessment Project
The future of case management practice in Canada will rest on the foundation of a framework for national core case management competencies. The goal of the NCMN Competency Profile and Assessment Project is to undertake a process of unifying case management providers into a collaborative body to provide a uniform knowledge base and best practices in Canada's case management community. Competency profiles are utilized to help position a profession within its practice and regulatory environments and to provide a clear understanding for the public about professional roles. Developing the competency profile is the last of the four NCMN objectives to be met with funding from Health Canada's Health Care Policy Contribution Program.
The Canadian Standards of Practice for Case Management document developed in 2009 is structured to reflect guiding principles, standards and practice expectations, and is now available for purchase at http://www.ncmn.ca. As case management professionals, practitioners, supervisory and quality assurance personnel, as well as government and policy makers begin to utilize the Standards, it is hoped that they will translate into improved health for Canadians and a strengthened national healthcare system.
To become a member, visit the NCMN website at http://www.ncmn.ca or if you have questions, email NCMN President Joan Park, RN MScN at [email protected]
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