Connected in Crisis is a free, place-based program helping people with intellectual disability gain the digital skills they need to stay healthy, informed, and prepared in any situation.
Delivered across the Bundaberg Region, the program combines small group workshops with in-home mentoring so learning happens in safe, familiar, and accessible environments. With the support of trained volunteer mentors, participants build confidence using everyday digital tools like MyGov, My Health Record, telehealth, e-scripts, and local disaster dashboards. Every session is co-designed with the community to ensure it’s practical, inclusive, and relevant to real life.
What is Connected in Crisis?
Connected in Crisis is a place-based digital mentoring program designed to support people with intellectual disability to build digital confidence, navigate health systems, and prepare for emergencies. The program is delivered right across the Bundaberg Region and is structured around both group learning and one-on-one support. Workshops and home visits provide opportunities to practice digital skills in environments that feel safe and comfortable, ensuring participants can learn at their own pace.
This combination of approaches means learning is not just theoretical – it is embedded into real-life situations that matter. From booking a telehealth appointment to checking an online disaster dashboard, the program focuses on the tools people use every day to stay connected and supported.
Mentors Who Make a Difference
At the heart of Connected in Crisis are its volunteer mentors. These digitally fluent individuals are trained in inclusive mentoring and preparedness skills, ensuring they can meet participants where they are at in their learning journey.
Mentors work alongside participants in trust-based, relationship-driven sessions, focusing on practical digital skills such as:
- Setting up and using MyGov
- Accessing My Health Record
- Booking Telehealth appointments
- Managing e-scripts
- Navigating local disaster dashboards
This person-centred approach allows participants to ask questions freely, receive encouragement, and practice new skills in a way that builds confidence and independence.
Request a Digital Mentoring Session
Participants, carers, or service providers can request a digital mentoring session to begin building these essential skills. Each session is tailored to individual needs and co-designed with the community, ensuring relevance and cultural appropriateness.
Co-Designed with Our Community
Connected in Crisis is more than just a digital skills program – it is co-designed with the people who use it. The program draws on the voices of people living with intellectual disability, sector experts, and primary care professionals. This collaboration ensures all delivery methods, tools, and resources are usable, accessible, and transferable to other digital literacy initiatives.
By embedding local voices in the process, the program ensures training is inclusive, culturally appropriate, and directly linked to the realities of everyday life.
The A-Maze-Ing Ways to Be Connected Maze
Interactive learning experiences are another important feature of the program. The A-Maze-Ing Ways to Be Connectedmaze adds a fun and engaging dimension by involving the disability community in emergency preparedness, hazard awareness, and digital health literacy.
The maze features themed zones with hands-on activities, practical tips, and information on where to find help during emergencies and disasters. Designed to be fully accessible and inclusive, the maze encourages free exploration, sparks conversation, and makes learning enjoyable.
It also creates valuable opportunities to connect participants with ongoing mentoring support, extending the impact beyond the maze itself.
Experience the Maze at Options Day 2025
The maze will feature at Options Day 2025:
- Tuesday, 23rd September
- 9am – 1pm
- Recreational Precinct Main Pavilion, Bundaberg
This event provides a unique opportunity to experience the maze firsthand and learn more about the Connected in Crisis program.
Wide Bay Kids and Resilient CARE
Connected in Crisis is coordinated by Wide Bay Kids as part of its ongoing work to support people living with disability in Bundaberg. The project is supported by the Resilient CARE program, a partnership between Country to Coast Queensland and Australian Business Volunteers, with funding from the Australian Government.
For more information about Connected in Crisis, mentoring sessions, or the maze, contact info@widebaykids.com.au
