Digitalization in my work

I work as a social instructor in a child welfare institution (lastenkoti). The focus of my job is on face-to-face engagement with the youths I work with. We are a part of their daily life 24/7 guiding them through their struggles, rehabilitating and being a safe adult they can count on. We use digital systems at my work, for example for documentation, calendars and emails but often it is considered a secondary part of our jobs and the lack of time for documentation can be a real issue some days. Despite this documentation is key in showing what we have done and what part we have played in the youth’s situation. Documentation is required by the welfare services county.

Currently we are in the process of adapting the national health archive system (Kanta) at my work. This will change the way we document things and will take some adaptations. Training in the transition has been quite minimal, especially from the perspective of practical examples on how to document correctly, which rather makes one learn hands-on and sparks many questions. Using Kanta limits the depth at which we can document conversations and situations which brings challenges to information flow between different shifts and workers. This can cause issues in day-to-day work and also bring frustration to the youths as their personal things might not advance as quickly due to cuts in communication. Due to changes in the digital environment human interaction has even more important role than before in ensuring our job goes smoothly and as planned.

Despite everything, digitalization definitely has its benefits. It makes our work and efforts to be seen, it is easier to evaluate and re-focus our goals based on the data, it gives juridical protection both for the youths and the workers, it improves the communication with social workers and documenting etc. in non-digitalized ways would be even more time consuming and put the data at a higher risk of misuse. There are also different apps one can use when working with the youths towards their goals.

The role of GDPR in my work life

GDPR is an important regulation designed to protect individuals’ personal data. The GDPR has been in use most of my working life and I can’t really compare the time between before and after it came into action, as my experiences in the time before are so limited. Following GDPR is at the core of processing data at my work and following its principles comes automatically to me. We deal with sensitive situations in the lives of young people and their families, and it is important that their data stays protected. Considering for example the famous Vastaamo data breach it is clear, that having personal information about one’s mental health, traumas etc. spread out to the public is devastating to go through and brings a lot of shame to the individuals affected. Also, many of the youths we work with can come from complex family situations and giving out information to a person who is not truly entitled to it can have serious consequences. Following the GDPR is crucial in giving the foster care youths the protection they need in their life.

Discussion with ChatGPT and my thoughts on AI

I discussed with ChatGPT about the foster care system in Finland and about the role of digitalization as a part of the work there. ChatGPT can quickly offer answers that view the topics from many different perspectives. It is good at summarizing from various sources. But with AI systems it’s important to remember that despite the answers seeming trustworthy there is always a chance of AI hallucinations and it is important to check the information you have been provided with. AI works best when it’s used to bring together preselected materials from topics one is already an expert in. Human observation of the results is always required.

Personally, I have a love hate relationship with AI. The opportunities it brings, when systems are utilized for the wellbeing of individuals, are enormous. AI can bring massive improvements, for example in the health sector, in recognizing and treating diseases. But one must remember the ethical and environmental issues using AI brings. For example, the data AI system has been trained on might be discriminating against certain groups of people which affects the type of answers and predictions it offers to the person using it. These types of issues should be considered especially when using AI in social services and health care.

Self-evaluation and professional goals

The course was interesting and brought together topics I had already focused on in my previous courses during my master’s degree studies. In that sense the amount of new information gained might not have been massive but doing it in English definitely developed me professionally. It is beneficial to learn the terms in a new language which also guides one to find more new material, sources and perspectives than before. Reading the blog posts of other students offered interesting new insights on the topic.

The materials provided offered a wide range of perspectives to digitalization. I do wish some of the materials would have been more up to date though, as technology advances quickly and seeing something from more than 10 years ago seems a bit outdated already. Especially AI has come in leaps and bounds within that time period and is more widely available to individuals than probably could have been predicted at the time.

When considering my career there is still a lot to do from the perspective of digitalization. Despite loving my job in the sector I work in, in the future I wish to find a way to work with development and digitalization more. While writing about digitalization at my work that thought came clear to my head again. There is a reason I have chosen digitalization as a topic for my master’s degree, there is a reason why I have chosen to take this course. And that is to advance and learn more about the digital solutions in social services and health care and hopefully make a career out of it in the future.

I have commented on posts by Heikki Turunen (https://blogi.savonia.fi/savoniaheikkiturunen/digi-society/) and Patricia Aghangu-Atem (https://blogi.savonia.fi/patriciaaghanguatem/digi-society/). At the time of publishing this blog post my comments are still awaiting moderation.