Sixth Annual Conference
January 18-20, 2002
San Diego, California
(See
SSWR homepage)
Medication and Case Management in a Community Support Service Program
By
Jeffrey L. Longhofer, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University, Department of Anthropology
Jerry Floersch, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University, Mandel School of Applied Social
Sciences
Janis Jenkins, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University, Department of
Anthropology
This paper reports the findings of an ethnographic and exploratory study of case managers and
medication management at a suburban community mental health center. Using case records, interview
and observational data, the study examines an under-researched and especially problematic area of
the medication management process: the monitoring phase. And though the broader process includes
assessment and prescription, delivery and application, this study is concerned mainly with the
roles of the case manager and the work of case management in monitoring. The data shows how the
intensity of monitoring Meds (medications) produces new case management divisions of labor, power
relations, and spaces; and how the limits and potential of powerful drugs are realized in the
intensity of monitoring and the knowledge produced in the day-to-day practices and interactions
among case managers, related professionals, and clients.
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