Client Improvement and Working Alliance: Case-Manager Factors

To investigate working alliance and other factors in case managers' perceptions of client improvement, data were collected from 95 case manager–adult client pairs from community-based agencies. Per the multiple regression results, client improvement as perceived by case manager increased with level of working alliance as perceived by case manager, and with manager age and social work education at the bachelor's level and master's level. Such improvement decreased with level of client substance abuse as perceived by manager. No association was found between client improvement as perceived by case manager and four further tested factors: level of working alliance as perceived by client; homogeneous gender and ethnicity of client and case manager; case manager work experience; duration of client working with the current case manager. Implications for practice and education are discussed.