Empowering Autonomy in Digital Risk Management: Lessons from Self-Directed Safety Planning in ConnectWell
Tracks
Prince Room - In-Person & Virtual
| Thursday, May 28, 2026 |
| 10:40 AM - 11:00 AM |
Overview
Xan Dangaard, Ally Tukaluk & Kate Johnson, Lives Lived Well
Details
Three Key Learnings
1. Autonomy drives engagement When consumers are given time, control, and transparency through self-directed tools, engagement increases — even among those not in immediate crisis. This reframes safety planning from a reactive, clinician-led task to a proactive, preventive behaviour led by consumers themselves.
2. Peer and clinical co-design strengthens safety and trust The co-design between peer workers and clinicians produced a more accessible and humanised safety planning experience. Integrating both perspectives helped reduce stigma, increase uptake, and support reflective, values-based safety planning.
3. Digital tools can enhance—not replace—relational care. ConnectWell’s approach challenges the binary of “human versus digital.” Thoughtfully designed digital tools can extend the reach of care, uphold relational ethics, and maintain continuity between digital and face-to-face support, particularly for consumers on waitlists.
1. Autonomy drives engagement When consumers are given time, control, and transparency through self-directed tools, engagement increases — even among those not in immediate crisis. This reframes safety planning from a reactive, clinician-led task to a proactive, preventive behaviour led by consumers themselves.
2. Peer and clinical co-design strengthens safety and trust The co-design between peer workers and clinicians produced a more accessible and humanised safety planning experience. Integrating both perspectives helped reduce stigma, increase uptake, and support reflective, values-based safety planning.
3. Digital tools can enhance—not replace—relational care. ConnectWell’s approach challenges the binary of “human versus digital.” Thoughtfully designed digital tools can extend the reach of care, uphold relational ethics, and maintain continuity between digital and face-to-face support, particularly for consumers on waitlists.
Speaker
Ms Xan Dangaard
Digital Counsellor Case Manager
Lives Lived Well
Empowering Autonomy in Digital Risk Management: Lessons from Self-Directed Safety Planning in ConnectWell
Abstract
Risk management in alcohol and other drug (AOD) services has traditionally centred on clinician-led conversations and real-time interventions, often overlooking consumer autonomy and limiting accessibility. Where digital mental health platforms often respond with static worksheets or referrals to external apps, ConnectWell has pursued an alternative approach.
ConnectWell is a digital AOD platform designed to complement Lives Lived Well's (LLW) face-to-face programs. Its self-directed safety planning tool enables consumers to create, update, and revisit personalised safety plans in their own time. Co-designed through peer worker and clinical collaboration integrating both practice strengths, the tool employs automated messaging offering crisis resources, explains safety planning benefits, and provides optional clinician support. This shifts risk management from reactive, clinician-driven process to proactive, consumer-led partnership.
Our presentation shares pilot engagement patterns that challenge traditional expectations about consumer participation in digital risk management. Notably, consumers who did not trigger suicide-related alerts also completed safety plans, suggesting the tool enables proactive, preventative risk management rather than solely crisis response. Offering consumers temporal autonomy and transparency about what happens next appears to increase engagement - allowing emotional preparation time and agency to respond on their own terms.
For consumers on waitlists, self-directed safety planning provides immediate risk mitigation while maintaining continuity of care - completed plans are ready for collaborative review when face-to-face engagement with LLW begins. Insights from consumers, peers, and clinicians highlight how digital autonomy fosters ownership, reduces stigma, and promotes reflective disclosure around triggers and coping strategies. Key enablers included peer worker and clinical collaboration, automated processes, and the option of digital clinician support.
The ConnectWell experience challenges the sector to move beyond the binary of "human versus digital," demonstrating how digital tools can strengthen relational care. We will share engagement findings and lessons learned for embedding consumer autonomy in digital risk management.
ConnectWell is a digital AOD platform designed to complement Lives Lived Well's (LLW) face-to-face programs. Its self-directed safety planning tool enables consumers to create, update, and revisit personalised safety plans in their own time. Co-designed through peer worker and clinical collaboration integrating both practice strengths, the tool employs automated messaging offering crisis resources, explains safety planning benefits, and provides optional clinician support. This shifts risk management from reactive, clinician-driven process to proactive, consumer-led partnership.
Our presentation shares pilot engagement patterns that challenge traditional expectations about consumer participation in digital risk management. Notably, consumers who did not trigger suicide-related alerts also completed safety plans, suggesting the tool enables proactive, preventative risk management rather than solely crisis response. Offering consumers temporal autonomy and transparency about what happens next appears to increase engagement - allowing emotional preparation time and agency to respond on their own terms.
For consumers on waitlists, self-directed safety planning provides immediate risk mitigation while maintaining continuity of care - completed plans are ready for collaborative review when face-to-face engagement with LLW begins. Insights from consumers, peers, and clinicians highlight how digital autonomy fosters ownership, reduces stigma, and promotes reflective disclosure around triggers and coping strategies. Key enablers included peer worker and clinical collaboration, automated processes, and the option of digital clinician support.
The ConnectWell experience challenges the sector to move beyond the binary of "human versus digital," demonstrating how digital tools can strengthen relational care. We will share engagement findings and lessons learned for embedding consumer autonomy in digital risk management.
Biography
Xan Dangaard is a Digital Counsellor Case Manager at Lives Lived Well, co-leading the design, delivery, and integration of ConnectWell – LLW’s flagship digital AOD and mental health platform. With a background in public health and design, she integrates clinical expertise and digital innovation to enhance access, autonomy, and safety in service delivery. Xan brings extensive experience in peer-led harm reduction initiatives in NSW, co-developing the online Drug and Alcohol First Aid training, and regularly contributes to organisational learning on harm reduction and peer–clinical collaboration. She is passionate about relational practice, digital care models, and lived experience integration.
