The implications of managed care for social work education

The advent of various forms of managed care means unprecedented changes for health and mental health service delivery and, by extension, for educators training those who deliver these services. Although the medical and nursing fields have begun to respond to these changes, social work has not. Yet managed care brings implications for every aspect of the social work curriculum; social workers must not only understand its impact, but be prepared to assume an expanding role in evolving systems. This paper examines the evolution and current status of managed care, describes the content areas most relevant to social work education, and offers mechanisms by which educators can incorporate material on managed care.