As a result of managed care, the context for social work practice is rapidly changing. This study was designed to: 1) assess field instructors' perceptions of the impact that managed care is having ...on their agencies; 2) assess the impact that managed care is having on agency practices; & 3) assess the impact managed care is having on social work field instruction. Social work field instructors at seven schools of social work in four states (n = 776) responded to a mailed questionnaire. Findings showed that the most profound effects of managed care have been noted by social workers employed in health care settings, followed by those in mental health settings. The noteworthy effects of managed care included a change in staff functions & assignments, increased scrutiny of worker productivity, increased community planning efforts with other agencies in the delivery of services, changes in client referral patterns, & difficulty for some clients in gaining access to services. These results did not indicate that a significant number of field placements have been lost. Field instructors, however, reported that there was less time to supervise students & that the type of student selected has changed. The field instructors specified that students needed to have training in managed care. 3 Tables, 28 References. Adapted from the source document.
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