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Step 2: The Importance of AI for Care

Learn from real-world examples where Artificial Intelligence can make a tangible difference for your team and why human expertise remains irreplaceable.

Understanding Opportunities and Limitations

In this step, you will develop a realistic understanding of the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in your organization. You will learn about different areas of application, assess risks appropriately, and make well-founded strategic decisions for your care practice.

Artificial Intelligence is not a replacement for staff, but a highly effective tool. It can take over routine tasks, relieve your team of administrative work, and create more time for human interaction and personal care.

This can provide valuable support, as elder care across Europe is facing increasing demographic pressure. By 2055, the EU population is expected to be significantly older, while the share of people of working age is projected to decline. This will increase the need for care and support, while relatively fewer professionals will be available to provide it.

Practical tip

Start by familiarizing yourself with the possibilities and limitations of AI. Clarify the following questions for your organization:

  • What do we mean by AI, and what role should it play in our care practice?
  • Which opportunities do we want to make use of?
  • Which ethical boundaries and requirements are important to us?

What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

A digital checklist on a tablet instead of a handwritten note is digitalization. If a system automatically identifies pressure ulcer or fall risks based on stored care data, we are talking about Artificial Intelligence.

What does AI mean in elderly care?

This podcast was generated with the help of AI. The content was developed by humans and reviewed for accuracy. (As of: 14 September 2026)

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How AI Can Support Your Organization: 3 Key Opportunities

AI derives predictions, recommendations, and decision support from existing data.
For your day-to-day care, this means:

  1. More time for direct care: AI voice assistants can capture reports directly on a smartphone, formulate free-text entries, and summarize lengthy records within seconds. Staff schedules can also be optimized automatically.
  2. Identify risks earlier: Sensors and AI algorithms continuously analyze health data. The system can alert your team at an early stage to gradual changes, such as an increased risk of falls or wounds.
  3. Support professional care decisions: AI prioritizes information and provides valuable insights. Responsibility and decision-making authority always remain with your qualified care professionals.

Quote

„The question we should ask ourselves is: How can professional care work be supported so that the profession can actually do what it is capable of doing and what it has been trained to do?“

Interview with nursing experts in the Care-AI project

Pflegekraft im Gespräch mit einem älteren Paar, der Mann sitzt im Rollstuhl, im Vordergrund Medikamentendosen

Different Perspectives – Shared Goals

The German-Danish Care-AI project shows that the motivation for using AI in long-term care differs in emphasis between the two countries.

These differences are not based on different values or priorities, but on different structural challenges.

Starting Point

While the shortage of skilled workers and the high administrative burden of documentation are often the starting points for digitalization and AI projects in Germany, Denmark places greater emphasis on improving the quality of care and promoting the greatest possible independence for older people.

Ultimately, both countries pursue the same goal: high-quality, safe, and person-centered care.

Deutschland Dänemark

The use of AI is often justified by the goal of reducing the workload for staff.

The focus is on:

  • reducing administrative tasks,
  • supporting documentation and staff scheduling,
  • and maintaining care provision despite the shortage of skilled workers.

Improving the quality of care for residents remains a key objective.

The use of AI is often justified by the goal of improving the quality of care and promoting residents’ independence.

AI is also intended to reduce the workload for staff. However, this reduction in workload is primarily seen as a consequence of improved care provision.

What Does This Comparison Mean for Your Management Team?

The motivations in practice are not mutually exclusive:

  • Staff who spend less time at their desks have more time for direct care.
  • Higher quality of care, in turn, can make your team’s daily workflows easier.

Practical tip

At the beginning of your AI project, clearly define the primary objective you want to pursue. This clarity will make it easier to select a provider and measure success later on.

5 Questions to Guide Your Decision-Making

  • Do we understand the specific opportunities and technical limitations of AI in care?

  • Are we aware that AI is a tool to support care professionals, not a replacement for them?

  • How will roles and responsibilities within our teams change through the use of AI tools?

  • What are our employees’ attitudes toward the use of AI?

  • How do we ensure that AI applications preserve the dignity and autonomy of residents?

Pflegekraft im Gespräch mit einem älteren Paar, der Mann sitzt im Rollstuhl, im Vordergrund Medikamentendosen

AI Technologies in the Care Context at a Glance

You do not need to become IT experts. However, understanding the basic building blocks can help you when selecting a provider:

AI field What does the technology do? Application in care

Machine Learning (ML)

Identifies patterns in data and calculates probabilities.

Fall risk analysis, activity monitoring.

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Understands, processes, and generates human language.

Voice input for documentation, chatbots, translation.

Computer Vision and Deep Learning

Analyzes images, videos, and complex movements.

Wound documentation, camera/sensor-based fall detection.

Expert systems, hybrid systems

Combines specialist knowledge with predefined rules and data.

Decision support for care interventions.

Where AI Reaches Its Limits

To avoid misguided investments and disappointment, you should take the following limitations into account:

No replacement for professional intuition

An uncertain look or a subtle change in behavior – professional care relies on human perception. AI provides indications, but humans remain responsible for evaluating them.

Structural and practical barriers

Robotics often encounters obstacles such as door thresholds, confined spaces, or stairs. Technology must be highly practical and robust enough for everyday use.

Data quality challenges

Care documentation often relies on individual free-text entries rather than structured data. However, AI requires clean, standardized data to produce reliable results.

Risk of bias

Many AI models are trained using data from the general population. As a result, they may not always accurately capture the physical characteristics and needs of very old people.

Examples of Successful Applications in Care Practice

The following practical examples have been anonymized to prevent conclusions being drawn about individual organizations or project partners.

Example 1: Voice Documentation in Everyday Work

Overview
Care professionals dictate reports and handovers directly into a smartphone. The AI processes care-specific terminology and transfers the data into the documentation system. No internet connection is required. The solution complies with data protection requirements.

Measurable result
In a pilot study at a German university hospital, the use of a voice documentation system reduced documentation time per shift from 64 to 25 minutes.

Key insight
AI delivers value when it is directly integrated into the workflow and provides tangible relief. Continuous and close involvement of users has a positive impact on acceptance.

Pflegekraft zeigt einer Bewohnerin im Rollstuhl etwas auf einem Tablet, im Hintergrund ein Laptop im Freien

Example 2: Fall Risk Analysis Using a Smartphone

Overview
Care professionals record a person walking for 30 seconds. The AI calculates a 3D skeleton and provides a fall-risk assessment and prevention recommendations.

Measurable result
In a study conducted in 16 care facilities, the use of an AI-based fall risk assessment reduced fall risk by 17.8%.

Key insight
AI supports risk assessment but does not replace professional care interventions.

Person blättert in einem Ordner mit medizinischen Formularen und Körperdiagrammen neben Notizblock und Stethoskop

Example 2: Sensors for Fall Detection

Overview
AI-based sensors detect falls in residents’ rooms immediately and trigger an alert.

Challenges
Initially, staff and relatives expressed concerns about monitoring and data protection. In addition, internal administrative approval processes (contracts, risk assessments) within the municipal administration significantly delayed the start of the project.

Key insight
The biggest obstacle was not team acceptance, but the lengthy administrative and data protection approval processes within the Danish municipality. Make sure to allow sufficient time for these processes!

Pflegekraft begleitet zwei ältere Frauen mit Rollstuhl und Rollator auf einem sonnigen Weg vor einer Einrichtung

Example 4: Documentation and Summaries in Care

Overview
An AI application for home and residential care was piloted in 11 Danish municipalities. It provides speech recognition, automatic categorization within care documentation, and AI-generated summaries of residents’ records before home visits.

Measurable result
Care professionals reported significant time savings when preparing for visits and completing documentation, resulting in more time for direct care.

Challenges
There was no clear legal basis for the routine processing of citizens’ data using AI. In addition, the approximately 32 different Danish dialects posed significant challenges for speech recognition.

Key insight
Team acceptance was very high. The biggest challenge was not the technology, but the legal framework. Consider using real-world testing environments (“regulatory sandboxes”) to trial AI applications in a legally secure setting.

Nahaufnahme einer Pflegekraft in blauer Kleidung mit Klemmbrett und Stethoskop

Your Outcome After This Step

  • Erfüllt:

    You now have a clear understanding of where AI can create genuine added value in your organization and where human expertise remains indispensable.

  • Erfüllt:

    The key question is what concrete benefit AI creates for the organization, its employees, and the people receiving care.

Key Messages for Communicating with Your Team

  • Erfüllt:

    AI identifies patterns and risks at an early stage

  • Erfüllt:

    AI reduces burdensome administrative work

  • Nicht erfüllt:

    AI does not assume legal responsibility

  • Nicht erfüllt:

    AI can never replace empathy and human interaction

What Happens Next

You know what AI can do and where its limitations lie? Now it’s time to create legal certainty: In Step 3: Law, Ethics & Data Protection – Acting Responsibly, learn how to comply with GDPR and the EU AI Act, clarify liability issues, and build trust among everyone involved.

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