Case conferences

The main idea of a case conference is that a variety of people will probably come up with better solutions than a single person acting alone. Case conferences are used in a variety of professions, such as medicine, education, law, psychology, business, and nursing. The purpose is usually:

• to understand (or diagnose) a problem,
• to write a care/treatment plan, and/or
• to review the case and make any necessary changes.

Case conferences can be meetings where a group of experts from the same field contribute to a solution. In smaller organizations, these might simply be done as part of a staff meeting. Case conferences can also be multidisciplinary, where experts from several different fields contribute to a solution.

Case conferences have many uses:

• Case conferences work very well as a general educational format. A student is assigned to give a presentation on a case and lead the discussion. Participants deal with both the unique characteristics of particular cases, and also develop their own generalizations about all cases in a category.
• They are useful as a collaborative research model, especially if used as a recurring meeting that tracks the development of a case. (The case conference approach is very similar to case study research methodology; they both focus on individual cases one at a time and look at the unique characteristics of each. In fact, a researcher could use case study theory to modify case conference approaches.)
• Case conferences are a way of using staff meetings for on-job staff training.
• Case conferences are a useful approach to Professional Development.

How to set up a case conference

If the case conference is a routine internal meeting, setting it up will be very easy. If it isn't routine and internal, you may need to inform participants about the meeting about its purpose, agenda, who else is invited, the venue, date and time You might also need to appoint someone to take minutes. You normally need to prepare a case history and distribute it to participants far enough in advance for them to read it.

Does the client attend case conferences?

• In many kinds of work, no, not normally.
• It's common in some kinds of work (e.g. child protection, abuse victims).
• Some clients want to be there and there's no reason not to be.
• In some cases, the client might attend part of the meeting, but not parts that would be distressing.

Whatever the case, you are ethically obliged to act in your client's best interests.

If the client is present in case conferences, it's advisable to limit the number of people present and, you will need to prepare them for the meeting. In other words, tell them what will happen and why, make sure they will get there, and make sure they have someone to look after them on the day.

Leading the meeting

If you are leading, give clear leadership and keep the discussion focused so that the group uses conference time wisely. Otherwise, case conferences can easily become boring and unproductive.

The format varies; here are three:

• Each expert might interview the client separately according the the protocols of their own discipline and bring their findings to the group.
• One person might do the interview and then give a presentation to the group and then lead an open discussion.
• The whole team might have regular contact with the client and compare their observations and interpretations.

Try to draw out the observations of participants and get all of them to have a say. Aim for consensus among participants and draw useful, concrete conclusions. Make sure all useful results get documented. (That's what minutes are for.)