SHARING DATA THE WAY TO GO
Given the evolving nature of social issues, social workers said what they really want to see is Singapore’s social service agencies sharing data with each other effectively.
Each agency often has limitations on the services it can offer, and it is not uncommon for families and individuals to seek help from multiple agencies all at once.
As such, sharing information – often in the form of case notes – can help these agencies determine the best way to assist people in need.
At present, the social service agencies use several government-initiated platforms designed to facilitate this sharing, including:
- SSNet ONE: A platform that collates and stores client information gathered from social service agencies
- One ClientView (OneCV): A platform that gives a frontline officer assessing a case a comprehensive view of the person’s information and assistance history
- CaseConnect: A coordination platform that allows frontline officers and case workers to make referrals to other agencies, share assessments and updates
Social workers said that these platforms have thus far been helpful in their day-to-day work.
For Ms Ho of NUH, for instance, her job mostly involves providing patients with financial assistance for their medical bills.
However, to help these patients apply for subsidies, issues occasionally arise – such as patients not knowing the details of estranged family members.
With the patient’s consent, OneCV helps Ms Ho retrieve the necessary information without having to contact the estranged relatives.
Having access to data enables the sector to be more forward-looking in planning services through data analytics, said Mr Yoganathan of NCSS.
It can also better identify at-risk groups and plan upstream preventive and developmental programmes.
But those in the social service said that not all social work practitioners are using these platforms, and getting all social service agencies to get on board is quite a mammoth task, too: There are over 500 agencies registered with the NCSS.
Asst Prof Chung of NUS said that while many in the sector are eager to use technology and data, some still require convincing.
“The uncertainty about its effectiveness, the long-term costs and the ethical issues surrounding technology has led to some caution in exploring its use or its adoption,” he said.
“This is understandable as social work professionals seek to ensure that service delivery is not compromised by the unintended consequences of technology.”
As a solution to this, Asst Prof Chung said that a group called the Social Work Informatics and Technology Champions, or Switch, was formed in 2024 to promote a better understanding of the possibilities and benefits of tech and AI in the field.
But there is still a need for social workers who are keen to play the role of “technology translators” to manage the implementation and adoption of new tech.
Some agencies, such as Care Corner, have taken it upon themselves to create their own management dashboard that consolidates all the data gathered across the organisation.
In Care Corner’s case, the dashboard, which they started to utilise last month, is able to track the agency’s key performance indicators across over a hundred social service programmes.
“When the data is transparent and visible, we can better identify gaps and better decide what actions need to be taken,” Ms Lin said.
Care Corner is in the process of integrating an additional AI layer on top of the platform, which would enable its social workers to recognise key emerging issues and common clients across their service points, and track the overall impact of their work on beneficiaries.
Those in the sector hope that sharing positive data on the efficacy and effectiveness of community-based services can also help encourage people to step forward and receive the support they need.
Take Viriya Psychological Services, for example, which provides clinical psychological assessments and standardised treatments in the community.
Dr Timothy Singham, its senior clinical psychologist and manager, said that the agency recently shared the clinical data it had collected over the past few years on its social media platforms and publicly at the International Allied Health Conference 2024 in November, where more than 1,100 industry partners had gathered.
Such sharing of clinical data is not a common practice in the sector.
“We found that 60 to 70 per cent of our clients reliably improve during their time with us, and that these improvement rates could be achieved within approximately 12 sessions,” he said.
“We hope this can help increase awareness of community-based psychological services, to help people know that our service is designed for them, and to encourage them to step forward to receive the psychological support that they need in the community setting.”
STILL A HUMAN-CENTRIC PROFESSION
Despite the conveniences that technology has afforded them, social workers said they still have plenty on their plates, given that their profession is centred on people.
Meeting clients can be “quite stressful”, Ms Sim from the hospice said, adding that the stress becomes particularly pronounced for newbies, as a social worker’s responsibilities include identifying the often-subtle cues that indicate a client is “high-risk”.
Such high-risk clients are considered to have an elevated likelihood of experiencing harm or causing harm to themselves.
“The biggest challenge is really to manage our own anxiety. High-risk cases are very serious, and we need to look at them seriously because it’s our responsibility.
“It can often be life or death,” Ms Sim said.
The need to be attuned to their clients’ emotional cues can sometimes bleed into one’s personal life as well – an “occupational hazard”, Mr Ho from THKMC said.
“Even when we’re not at work, we tend to read cues in our personal lives that aren’t really there too – we (over-analyse) our loved ones’ actions but we don’t recognise that the context is different.”
Mr Ho added that the unpredictability inherent in a social worker’s job is something technology cannot address.
He recalled being assigned to meet a client at a rental flat who needed housing-related assistance in 2017. The client, a middle-aged Singaporean woman, had developmental issues and could only understand basic Chinese.
While trying to obtain more information about her circumstances, Mr Ho discovered something else: The woman had a cohabitant with similar cognitive impediments, and their relationship was often physically violent.
It was one of the most challenging cases he had ever encountered.
“You have to think on your feet and you have to be prepared for anything,” Mr Ho said.
“Technology itself is a wonderful thing, but it cannot and should not replace human interaction.”
