13.02.2025 | The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health has evaluated the use of an AI solution developed by Attendo and the digital company Efima for documentation in care work. The development project demonstrated that a solution utilizing speech recognition technology can reduce the workload of care staff, improve the quality of documentation, and enhance job satisfaction.
The Finnish digital company Efima provides Attendo with an AI solution as a service, based on Microsoft’s Azure AI environment’s speech recognition technology, OpenAI’s language models, and Efima’s own components. The service utilizes speech recognition and AI, which together convert speech into text and automatically classify the entries made by caregivers. The technology solution has been developed in close collaboration with caregivers, and their perspectives have been central in the development of the application.
The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health supported the success of the pilot and examined how the use of AI solutions in documentation and as support in care work appeared in everyday work and practical situations. Observations indicated that with the new solution, documentation can be done continuously during the shift at suitable moments and places. The ability to dictate streamlines documentation, reduces the burden of writing tasks, and lightens the amount of information caregivers need to remember, thus reducing stress.
“The pilot is an excellent example of how good results are achieved when care professionals are closely involved in the development process and the requirements of care work are genuinely considered. The users’ and work perspective must be central when developing and implementing applications", says Tiina Koivisto, Senior Specialist at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
The development project highlighted that AI solutions should be introduced in care work. Research is needed on methods that have positive effects on work fluency and staff well-being.
Documentation time halved
Based on the development project, the solution also speeds up the documentation done by caregivers and frees up time for genuine interactions, care, and attention in care homes. Preliminary estimates indicate that the time spent on documentation has been reduced from 45 minutes to 20 minutes, which corresponds to 6% of working time.
At the beginning of the project, Efima and Microsoft visited care homes to understand how technology could ease care work – documentation in care work was identified as the most significant time-consuming task.
“Developing meaningful AI solutions requires immersion in the customer’s processes and world. At Efima, we are grateful to have been able to familiarize ourselves with the everyday life and challenges of care homes – this allowed us to develop a solution that genuinely reduced the workload of care staff”, says Sami Sipiläinen, Customer Director at Efima.
“Currently, care workers are doing machine work. In Finland, we must have the courage to adopt new technologies so that our skilled professional staff can focus on what machines cannot replace: human interaction”, says Minna Nissinen, Business Development Director at Attendo.
More information
Attendo, Business Development Director Minna Nissinen
minna.nissinen@attendo.fi, +358 40 766 6726
Efima, Customer Director Sami Sipiläinen
sami.sipilainen@efima.com, +358 40 078 9992
Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Senior Specialist Tiina Koivisto
tiina.koivisto@ttl.fi, +358 43 824 5928
About Attendo
Attendo is the leading provider of care services in the Nordic countries. Our mission is to empower individuals so that everyone living with us can lead a full life of their own design. We offer care and housing services for the elderly, people with developmental disabilities, the disabled, substance abuse and mental health rehabilitators, and those in need of child protection and therapy. For our residents, we are primarily a home, for our stakeholders a partner, and a strong force for change in society. Our over 18,000 employees serve in more than 400 locations across Finland. We empower people. We look forward. We solve together. We are Attendo.
www.attendo.fi
About Efima
Efima Plc promotes the growth of large and medium-sized companies by developing critical business processes, systems, data, and AI-based solutions. Our services are centered around Microsoft technologies, Efima's capabilities in consulting, and a developing and personal partnership with our customers. We believe in deeply understanding our customers' business and goals to design solutions that best serve them.
www.efima.com
