Social network assessment: a critical component in case management for functionally impaired older persons.

Case managers who develop long-term care service plans for functionally impaired elderly persons must integrate the supportive efforts of the client's social network into the overall service approach. The ultimate goal is to develop a plan whereby the formal service providers supplement rather than supplant the care and assistance available from the older person's network. This article presents a framework that identifies those variables associated with the relationship dynamics that exist between older persons and their social network members. The framework can be used by case managers to help them assess the characteristics and functioning of their clients' social network relations and develop service strategies that maximize the helping efforts of those networks.