Better at home? Benefits of case management for children with complex needs

Care at home for children with complex health needs is recommended in health policy and advocated by professionals and voluntary organisations. Measuring benefits for the child and family is difficult and burden is known to be high for the family, especially when support for home care is inadequate. Case examples are used in this article to demonstrate the clinical and cost effectiveness of home care for children following acquired brain injury in the context of case management of an intensive package of support for each child. A first step to more widespread adoption of case-managed home care packages is to share examples of best practice that can demonstrate good outcomes and cost effectiveness.