Coordinated Community-Based Hoarding Interventions: Evidence of Case Management Practices

Abstract

Hoarding is a problem for which coordinated interprofessional interventions are suited to address associated health and safety concerns. Case management (CM) consists of a set of well-established strategies commonly used in community service settings to address serious mental illness and similar complex problems. The present study used qualitative methods to examine whether CM activities occurred in four North American community-based hoarding intervention models. Findings indicated interventions associated with hoarding cases mapped closely onto eight major functions of CM, though emphasis on specific CM activities depended on availability of resources. CM appears to be a useful rubric for approaching complex social and functional problems that arise among urban clients with hoarding disorder.