“I’m going to help you paint that barn,” my dad said.  I was living on a turn of the century farm house with a sizeable barn that was in desperate need of a paint job.  “I don’t want to paint that barn,” was my honest reply.  I had enough on my plate with work and family.  I was all too familiar with the time and work that would have to go into painting a barn of that size through my work painting houses over the years.  But what does painting a barn have to do with case managers?

Case Managers Partner With People

“I know you don’t want to.  That’s why I am going to come help you.  It needs to be done.”  My father was a wise man.  He saw what needed to be done and knew I had no time, or desire, to accomplish it on my own.  One of my supervisor’s had said to me early in my career that the work we do is not necessarily something that people could not do on their own, but it’s something they don’t do on their own.  Part of the value comes in us working with them to help motivate, encourage, and partner with them on the journey.  As I have had the privilege of joining people on their journey I have found this to be very true.  I have been able to partner with people in their change efforts.

Case Managers Help To Motivate People

One person I have been working with in their ongoing efforts to quit smoking reflected: “I would have given up trying to give up if it wasn’t for this.”  The partnership that we had built created a sense of accountability in her efforts that served as an ongoing source of motivation.  Just as I never would have gotten that barn painted, her efforts to quit smoking would have gone by the wayside.

Case Managers Can Help Get You “Unstuck”

Life can be overwhelming.  I was a new dad with a job, school, and an internship.  Fortunately, whether or not the barn got painted had relatively low consequences for the rest of my life.  People who are diagnosed with a life-changing condition are leading full lives and are then saddled with circumstances that can have extremely high consequences if they are not able to quickly make lifestyle changes to help them manage their new situation.  In the face of dealing with life as it was, individuals are now trying to absorb new information about an illness they knew little to nothing about previously and how now many of the ways they used to deal with life have to change.  It’s easy to understand how a person can become overwhelmed and not know what to do first.  Case management can help by providing an open, non-judgmental space in which to process these life changes and develop a plan for moving forward.