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Integrated care plans and ending homelessness: Why Wraparound works?
Integrated care coordination can take several forms – ranging from Wraparound, to intensive home-based services or family and respite care. Harnessing these treatment models may play a key role in ending homelessness. Here we will dive into the basics of Wraparound care coordination–an effective behavioral health system of care model that CaseWorthy software supports.
What is a wraparound program?
Wraparound programs involve an intensive, individualized approach to care planning and case management. Wraparound plans are custom-designed around positive outcomes and are delivered in a structured team-planning framework.
Typically centered around youth and family, wraparound services offer holistic systems of professional and natural support that integrate the clients’ beliefs about what they need.
Wraparound case managers and nonprofits believe that every behavioral health scenario is unique, and requires a personalized care plan.
High-fidelity Wraparound Principles of Care
1. Family Voice and Choice – The case manager listens carefully to gain family members’ perspectives and preferences, which are prioritized throughout the Wraparound care plan. In order to implement wraparound services, case managers must work hand-in-hand with providers and the client’s support system.”
2. Collaboration and Assemblage of a Natural, Community-Based Team – Wraparound is a collaborative effort undertaken by a team composed of people who have a strong interest in the individual’s well-being. These may be friends, relatives, community supports, and/or service providers. Teachers, therapists, probation officers, athletic coaches, friends, family members, and physicians may all be part of the care team. Natural community and interpersonal supports are sustainable because these individuals often have a high degree of importance and influence on the individual’s life.
3. Culturally Competent – The Wraparound plan respects and builds on important values, beliefs, traditions, culture, and identity of the individual as well as their community. Wraparound teams strive to ensure that the approach is grounded in respect, and that culturally competent services are provided throughout the care plan.
4. Individualized – The team develops a plan that is uniquely tailored to the individual.
5. Strengths-Based – Wraparound seeks to validate and build on assets that each individual as well as their care team brings to the plan. Focusing on strengths emphasizes positive psychological frameworks–such as hope, positivity, purpose, and identity–and improves interpersonal connections among the individual and their team members. Supporting the individual’s strengths also improves their self-esteem and may help re-entry or upward mobility in the workforce.
6. Unconditional – The team will not reject, blame, or give up on the individual that they’ve agreed to support even when faced with challenges or setbacks. Creating a reliable support system helps the wraparound process have its full impact.
7. Outcome-Based – From the onset, the team selects key indicators to define successful outcomes, and periodically assesses progress. Monitoring these outcomes regularly allows the team to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan, as well as individual strategies, creating natural opportunities for refinement.
The Wraparound approach considers the whole spectrum and variety of a client’s complex needs, determines what services need to be provided and in what order, and cares for the client as a whole person.
Why Wraparound?
Wraparound isn’t a traditional service-driven, problem-based approach to behavioral health care. Instead, the model embraces an individual’s strengths and unique needs. This model has been cited as a promising practice for treating complex mental health disorders, particularly in youth. A 2006 study evaluating the efficacy of wraparound in youth with complex behavioral health needs showed that the treatment modality improved school attendance, grade point averages, and decreased disciplinary action at school.
How CaseWorthy supports Wraparound Care Coordination:
CaseWorthy’s customizable platform easily facilitates reporting, allowing for seamless information sharing among team members so everyone stays on the same page. The platform also delivers a holistic view of the individual’s mental, behavioral, and physical well-being so case managers can quickly keep track of meaningful outcomes. And–perhaps most importantly–CaseWorthy saves case managers one of their most valuable assets: time.
Tune into our next webinar, or schedule a custom, obligation-free personalized demo to see the CaseWorthy difference for yourself.