How to Write a Case Study

Case studies are an invaluable record of the clinical practices of our industry and profession. While case studies cannot provide specific guidance for the management of successive clients, they are a record of clinical interactions and possible applications for other clients. Case studies also provide valuable teaching material, demonstrating both typical and unusual presentations which may confront the practitioner.

Quite obviously, since the overwhelming majority of clinical interactions occur in the field, not in teaching or research facilities, it falls to the field practitioner to record and pass on their experiences. However, field practitioners generally are not well-practiced in writing for publication, and so may hesitate to embark on the task of carrying a case study to publication. These guidelines are intended to assist the relatively novice writer in efficiently navigating the relatively easy course to publication of a quality case study. Guidelines are not intended to be proscriptive, and so throughout this document we advise what authors "may" or "should" do, rather than what they "must" do.

• Construct a template, in your mind or on paper, which will be the guide throughout the writing process. This will improve how the document looks, feels and reads. Consistency in these three items is key to a good case study.
• Draw your reader in with a unique title. It should attract the reader and make them want to read more.
• Begin writing the paper. Start by identifying the problem that is being addressed in the case study. 
• Explore the problem, including cause and effect. Give as much background as possible on other solutions that were attempted.
• Discuss the solution you selected and/or how this problem was specifically addressed. Tell what methods were used in determining your solution. 
• Describe benefits of the approach you chose. Tell how the benefits might impact other individuals with similar presentations. Discuss the limitation of your approach. 
• Use before and after photographs to document your solutions.
• Utilize the general-to-specific-to-general approach. This is the approach to use because it draws the reader in, demonstrates a specific example, and then shows how it applies to the group as a whole. It also shows the reader how they can address their own problem this way.