Expert Systems and the Public Provision of Welfare Benefit Advice

Abstract

At some stage during their lives most people will need information on welfare benefit entitlements and on the operation of the social security system in order to lodge a benefit claim. This article reports on the feasibility of using computers to provide benefit advice and support to the public, drawing on data from a study of potential users of a computer information system. The article concludes that expert systems technology could provide opportunities for developing welfare benefit advice systems which are easy to use and which can educate non-experts about social security administration and entitlement to wefare benefits.

Costs and Benefits: A Review of Research on Take-up of Income-Related Benefits

“…The message of the research reviewed here is that to have much effect publicity needs to focus on ways of sharpening perceptions of eligibility rather than just increasing general awareness of the existence of benefits. Other methods of improving understanding such as the provision of informed advice or encouragement to claim, should also be considered as a way of supplementing publicity (Broad, 1977;Davies and Ritchie, 1988;SSAC, 1988;Buckland and Dawson, 1989;Dawson, Buckland and Gilbert, 1990). Indiscriminate publicity is liable to be inefficient and may do more harm than good if it fosters misconceptions about eligibility.…”

“…If demand for benefits is constrained by supply, changes in the way benefits and benefit information are delivered will affect take-up rates. Dealing adequately with the supply side (see NAO, 1985;Corden, 1985b;1987a;Dawson, Buckland and Gilbert, 1990) would double the length of the paper. Source: DSS 1990.…”

Intelligent knowledge based systems (IKBS): organisational implications

“…[39] One such system which is currently being designed under the Alvey programme and with which the author has been involved, is the development of a knowledge-based welfare benefit advice system. The aim of the system is to provide members of the general public with expert advice on social security administration and their entitlement to welfare benefits [40]. Although under the present climate it is unlikely that there will be sufficient political or economic incentives to make such systems readily available to the public, the potential for applying knowledge engineering techniques to the design of socially useful systems for nonexperts, raises a number of interesting implications for the nature of work and client relations in service industries.…”