Leveraging AI to supercharge the training and support of extended workforce in addiction services

The addiction workforce faces mounting challenges in capacity-building amidst a rising epidemic of substance and behavioural addictions in Europe. Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents significant potential in providing continuous support and training to the extended workforce, including volunteers, call centre operators, and first responders.
Despite the increasing integration of AI in medical education post-pandemic, AI courses are yet to be included in standard medical curricula. Its utilisation and effectiveness in training extended workforce members, in particular, remains under-researched. The absence of accreditation standards for AI applications in healthcare education, and more specifically in addiction training, reveals significant gaps. However, for the extended workforce, the benefits of AI may outweigh these concerns and help bridge these gaps during the current surge in addiction cases.
AI's adaptive learning technologies and real-time feedback mechanisms can offer continuous support and training to the extended workforce. This fosters collaboration across healthcare, criminal justice, and social support sectors, thus enhancing our collective capacity to prevent, treat, and support recovery from addictions. Additionally, AI can create peripheral support tools for healthcare workers, providing personalised learning experiences and digitalised tools that cater to individual training needs and creating a more inclusive environment for workers from diverse backgrounds and abilities.
This e-poster explores best practices and resources for adopting AI to enhance expert-led training for the extended workforce. It addresses practical challenges and ethical considerations of AI implementation, aiming to offer insights into overcoming regulatory hurdles, especially in the European context, ensuring ethical compliance, and effectively integrating AI into training and service delivery frameworks. By doing so, it seeks to empower the extended workforce and enhance the overall capacity to address the addiction crisis effectively.