NETWORKING: WAYOF WORKING
Experience with Digitalisation
The use of digitalisation has already transformed the world of social services, health, and sports in many ways, which are noticeable. Paper records have been replaced with electronic records (like Kanta in Finland) that can be accessed more easily and securely by professionals in order to quickly access a client’s history. Today, wearable devices and apps are used in sports coaching to monitor heart rate, sleep patterns, and performance metrics, providing live data for coaches and athletes. Social work has also been increasingly embracing digital case management systems and online counselling, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has already become a norm in video calls.
My Future Ideas
In the future, I think digitalisation will play an even greater role in changing the face of this discipline, with AI diagnostics, predictive health monitoring with wearables, and personalised digital coaching plans based on live biometric data all shaping the future. I also anticipate that remote and hybrid service delivery will become commonplace, particularly in remote regions where specialists are not readily available.
Conclusion
Digitalisation is reshaping the way we live and work in the fields of social services, health, and sports, in all of which fields services are becoming faster, more accessible, and data-driven. Meanwhile, professionals such as myself will have to acquire more digital literacy and data-handling skills, as they are becoming as much of a must as face-to-face skills.
Data Protection and the Risks of an Open Digital Society
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force across the EU in 2016 and became applicable from 25 May 2018. Its purpose is to give individuals more control over their personal data and to require organisations to handle that data responsibly, transparently, and securely.
In my own field of social services, health, and sports, GDPR has a direct and significant impact. Health and social data are classified as “special category” data under GDPR, meaning they require even stricter protection than ordinary personal information. This affects how client records, therapy notes, and even fitness-tracking data from wearable devices are stored and shared between professionals.
On the positive side, GDPR gives clients more trust and control. They know their sensitive health and social history cannot be shared without proper consent, and they have the right to request, correct, or delete their data. This is especially important in social work, where clients are often in vulnerable situations.
On the negative side, GDPR compliance can slow down collaboration between organisations. For example, sharing a client’s information between a hospital, a social worker, and a sports rehabilitation coach now requires careful consent processes and secure systems, which can create delays in urgent situations. Smaller organisations may also struggle with the cost and technical knowledge needed to stay compliant.
Overall, I see GDPR as a necessary safeguard in an increasingly open digital society. The benefits of protecting vulnerable people’s sensitive data outweigh the added administrative complexity.
My ChatGPT Experiment
I logged into ChatGPT and asked three questions related to my field: the biggest digital trends in social work in 2026, how wearable technology can improve rehabilitation for injured athletes, and the risks of using AI in healthcare decision-making.
The answers were detailed and well-organised, covering relevant themes like AI-assisted case management, telehealth, wearable sensors for tracking movement and recovery, and risks such as algorithmic bias and data privacy. The information was mostly accurate and matched what I know from my studies, especially around digital inclusion and the importance of keeping services human-centered.
However, I noticed some limitations. The answers were quite general and sometimes listed broad trends without deep, field-specific detail. ChatGPT also couldn’t tell me how well these tools work in my own country’s specific systems, and it sometimes presented ideas confidently even where the evidence is still described as “emerging.” This shows why AI answers still need to be checked against real research and professional expertise, rather than trusted blindly.
Overall, I think artificial intelligence has real potential benefits for my field especially in speeding up documentation, supporting rehabilitation monitoring, and identifying patterns in large amounts of data. But I also see clear risks, like bias, privacy concerns, and the danger of professionals relying on AI recommendations too heavily without applying their own judgement. I believe AI works best as a support tool for professionals, not a replacement for human decision-making.
Self-Evaluation
I have learned how much digitalisation has already transformed my field of social services, health, and sports, ranging from electronic health records to Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and wearable technology. I also discovered that these tools offer great advantages in terms of efficiency, accessibility, and making data-informed decisions. However, they have significant privacy and bias implications and can create the danger of relying too heavily on the technology rather than human expertise.
The GDPR reflection helped me understand the legal obligations I will have in the future when working with sensitive clients. Before this assignment, I had not considered that wearables and shared case files are subject to strict data protection rules, or how much it’s up to professionals to get consent right.
The ChatGPT experiment was really a useful reminder of the strengths and weaknesses of AI as a tool to support, rather than replace, human work, as it is efficient and well organised, but not always correct or specific.
In the future, I am looking to gain a deeper understanding of the day-to-day operational and practical implications of data protection in health and social care, and how professionals in my field are being educated to use AI responsibly, as well as the digital skills that employers will seek from graduates entering this field in the coming years.
I commented on Aleski’s blog post https://blogi.savonia.fi/digitrip/digi-society/
And Liina’s post https://blogi.savonia.fi/liinanarhi/digi-society/
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