The benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) in care are far reaching, offering incredible opportunities to help improve care delivery and efficiency. But there’s something we need to keep front and centre: human connection. Because social care isn’t just about software or processes; it’s about people.
Achieving the right balance between AI and human connection in care protects the heart of what social care is all about while also harnessing the many benefits AI has to offer. Here’s why finding that balance is so important and how you can do it.
Why balancing AI and human connection is important in care
While artificial intelligence can be a fantastic assistant for your care teams, by speeding up manual admin or supporting decisive decision making, it can’t replace the unique qualities your people bring to the table.
Here are a few reasons why it’s crucial to get this balance, so AI can complement care delivery:
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Preserving empathy and trust
Social care is fundamentally about human relationships and understanding the unique needs of each person you support. While AI can process data, giving vital insights within the matter of seconds that can be used to help you teams delivery high-quality care, it isn’t there to replace genuine empathy or replicate emotional connection in the same way your people can, which is critical for building trust and providing person-centred care to those you support.
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Addressing nuanced care needs
Social care frequently involves complex, nuanced situations that can mean your care workers draw on their personal experiences and intuition, as well as their care specific skills and training. Of course, AI can assist with data-driven insights to support care delivery and decision-making, but it may lack the ability to fully understand context, emotions, or the subtleties of human behaviour that are experienced person to person. That’s because LLMs (Large Language Models) are trained to only respond to the information it has been given, so won’t consider omitted wider context.
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Building resilience and adaptability
Your care teams often need to quickly respond to unexpected situations and offer resourceful solutions during difficult or demanding moments. This is where a balance between AI and human relationships is so important. That’s because as your teams grow and adapt to changing need, their AI tools need to be able to respond accordingly, to ensure that it provides unbiased and fair feedback in the face of an increasingly adaptive care sector.
How to balance AI and human connection in care
Thoughtfully balancing AI integration with the human connection that serves as the lifeblood of social care is critical to empowering your care teams as well as those they support.
Here are some of our tips care providers may want to consider when on this digital journey:
1. Maintain a person-centred approach
A person-centered approach ensures that the people you support always remain at the heart of their care. And while AI can process vast amounts of data, it can’t replicate the warmth of a reassuring smile or the understanding that comes from a much-needed catchup. But by equipping your care teams with AI tools that streamline tasks, such as summarising care plans, answering queries or comparing one spreadsheet to another, they can dedicate more time to building trust and nurturing those vital connections that support person-centered care.
These AI insights can also help your teams offer personalised support by tracking patterns in data to spot potential health risks for early intervention. When AI and human touch in care collaborate, it ensures tailored, proactive action and compassion is always met throughout the entire care journey.
2. Remember that AI is there to assist, not to replace
When it comes to navigating those emotionally challenging situations, your people will often have an edge over tech because, as we’ve already mentioned, they can draw on experiences that an AI tool may not have been trained to consider. For instance, AI can read through a clients care plan and suggest that they need certain resources to meet specific goals. Using that information, a human care worker can then go the extra mile to listen, address barriers, and fully understand personal context. This level of ai and human collaboration in care ensures decisions remain fair and empathetic.
That way, AI can be used to helpfully identify patterns in data so your care teams can then focus on those more nuanced, grey areas, and doing the thing they do best—care. Chatbots can also be used in care to answer routine inquiries or admin your teams may have, meaning they can reduce the burden of repetitive tasks and refocus their energy on what truly matters.
3. Address potential challenges
It’s crucial to address any challenges or concerns that come when blending AI and care, because you don’t want your employees to misuse the tool or avoid it entirely. Being transparent with your teams and those they support is key, so they fully understand how AI tools are being used in their care and what safeguards exist to ensure ethical practices. You may want to have champions that can guide others or set aside some time so your care facing and back-office employees can get up to speed with the software, making sure they have the opportunity to feel confident when using a new AI tool and view it as a helpful extension of their expertise.
Data privacy must always be a top priority when it comes to introducing AI too, so ensure strict security measures are in place to protect sensitive client information. This is particularly important because shadow AI (which are AI tools that are used by your teams but haven’t been approved by your organisation), for example, may not ensure data sovereignty, which can mean your private data could become visible to the public.
4. Foster collaboration and trust
Open communication, collaboration, and feedback are vital for making AI and human relationships in care work effectively. Engage all users in the implementation of AI systems to ensure they are user-friendly and meet their needs. This not only helps refine the tools but also fosters trust, and helps ensure the tools remain inclusive, useful, and aligned with your clients’ needs. You may also want to make sure you’re regularly gathering feedback from those you support and your employees about their experiences with AI tools to identify areas for improvement.
Karolina Gerlich, CEO of The Care Workers’ Charity, gives her tips for this in our recent discussion about the benefits of digital transformation.
An AI and human partnership for care
The future of social care isn’t about choosing between AI and humans; it’s about creating partnerships where each enhances the other’s strengths. When implemented with care, compassion, and a commitment to maintaining the human element, AI and human connection in care can move hand in hand, helping to lighten the load for your teams and enable them to focus on meaningful, personal interactions.
That’s why we developed OneAdvanced AI, the first UK hosted private LLM (Large Language Model). Working alongside our OneAdvanced Care portfolio of solutions, OneAdvanced AI in care allows you to confidently interpret and analyse your data, no matter what function it relates to within your organisation or what type of care you provide, without it ever leaving your sight.
Watch our on-demand webinar for all the details you need to know about OneAdvanced AI here.
