'It was just nice to be able to talk to somebody': long-term incapacity benefit recipients' experiences of a case management intervention

Background: This paper provides important contextual and service implementation data by exploring participant experiences of a pilot case management intervention for long-term incapacity benefit (IB) recipients.

Methods: Service experiences were assessed via a postal questionnaire and semi-structured qualitative telephone interviews. Data from 77 service user questionnaires and 20 semi-structured qualitative interviews were obtained. Questionnaire data were analysed using SPSS and telephone interviews were transcribed, thematically coded and analysed using NVivo.

Results: Respondents were generally positive about their experience of the intervention and particularly the benefit gained from the personal support that case managers provided. However, they also made suggestions about how the service could be delivered more effectively particularly in terms of the duration of the treatments and increasing the level of face-to-face support.

Conclusions: Case management approaches may offer a supportive environment in which the health needs of those in the long-term receipt of IB can be addressed.