The purpose of this study is to figure out characteristics of the elderly who do not cope proactively to stressors and to know effective social work intervention for such type of elderly. An ecological perspective was employed as a theoretical framework for the case study. The cases were analyzed based on transaction between stressors and coping. The focus of the analysis was in 3 out of 22 cases of social workers at Comprehensive Community Support Centers. As the result of The Brief Scales for Coping Profile, these 3 cases were elderly who rarely use any coping. The results of the case study are as follows : Actually they frequently use avoidance coping and seldom use coping which is associated with active behavior. It is important for social workers to reach out to this type of elderly. It seems that the purpose of intervention of social workers should be to enable them to talk with social workers about their stressors.

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The objective of the current study is to clarify the structure of the practice of residential social workers in nursing homes. The roles of the residential social workers have been ambiguous in the nursing homes. The investigation was conducted in order to analyze the practice of the 415 residential social workers of nursing homes located in the Kansai region. By using a structural equation model, a hypothetical model that represented the structure of the practice of residential social workers was examined. The model included five factors ("Claim Responses," "Admission Assessment and Hospitalization's Planning," "Service Planning and Evaluation," "Supports in Collaborations among Workers," "Community-based Social Work Practice"). The results showed a fit index of CFI=0.979, TLI=0.974, RMSEA=0.068 and confirmed the construct validity of the hypothetical model. Internal Consistency (Measurement Reliability) was also confirmed with Cronbach's α=0.869. When the relationships between the demographics and practice were examined, a positive relationship was found between the practice and organizational position of the social workers. However, no correlation existed between the practice and the certification status of the social workers. The results give implications for the future direction and tasks in the training of residential social workers.

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This study elaborates on the functions of team management in service manager meetings, particularly on leadership and teamwork pertaining to care managers. The analysis employs qualitative methods of research such as interviews and qualitative coding. The results show that the following aspects are contents of team management in service manager meetings : judgment by the leadership regarding convening ; participant selection by the leadership ; promotion of participation in teamwork ; focus within teamwork ; role awareness in teamwork ; learning about leadership and coordination of teamwork. Thus, from the results, we see that in service manager meetings, the characteristics of team management are leadership empowerment and teamwork expansion based on the perspective of core users as the central actors. In addition, Care Managers in particular are needed to be continually involved in the demonstration of leadership and the activation of teamwork.

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