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be associated with positive treatment outcomes
(Best et al, in preparation).
SO WHAT IS THE REC-CAP?
We have taken elements of four established
engagement, outcome and recovery measures to
create a flexible online recovery mapping measure that
can be linked to both care planning and review, and to
recovery management outside of treatment services.
The four elements are:
• Basic recovery enablers:
Measures of key life
issues mapped using elements of the Treatment
Outcome Profile (TOP). These are not regarded as
elements of recovery capital (and so are not
shown in the REC-CAP star) but are seen as key
issues to address to facilitate the recovery journey.
•
Treatment motivation and engagement:
Measuring desire for help and treatment
engagement for those in treatment using the
Client Evaluation of Self and Treatment (CEST).
•
Recovery capital:
Divided into separate sub-
scales for personal and social recovery capital,
and measured using the Assessment of
Recovery Capital (ARC).
•
Recovery community engagement:
Involvement
in social groups supportive of recovery, assessed
on the Recovery Group Participation Scale (RGPS).
These combine into five measures that are all scored
out of 20 – treatment motivation, treatment
engagement, personal recovery capital, social recovery
capital, and community recovery capital.
Entering the scores creates a visual map of
recovery wellbeing as shown in the accompanying
illustration.
What is unique about the REC-CAP is that it is
entered online and will automatically populate the
graph above – initially to show how the person
compares to other clients from that service – and so
identify what strengths and resources they have for
their recovery journey. However, in all review
completions of the REC-CAP, the graph will show their
own change in wellbeing, providing the person in
recovery (and the worker) with a measure of growth
in recovery capital.
Being a mapping system that is completed online,
there is no paperwork, no data to be entered by
harassed admin staff and no delays between
completing the form (the initial form takes around 30
minutes and the review less than 10) and observing
the scores. The online system is structured so that
the results are available as soon as the last
question is answered. This is a recovery outcome
system that is flexible and easy to use, and one that
minimises the burden on staff and on clients. We are
currently exploring ways in which it can be linked to
services’ existing databases.
As a result, it has real application as a clinical
recovery tool – where the worker and client complete
the REC-CAP in a treatment session, they have
immediate access to the results in the form of a
graph or a printout of the scales. It provides
immediate feedback on strengths and gaps,
representing a genuine commitment to partnership
recovery working for agencies and their clients. The
REC-CAP is basically a client-level assessment that is
collaborative and shared in supporting and
developing recovery journeys and pathways, but it
can also be used as a performance management
measure in services to assess progress in enabling
clients’ recovery journeys.
The REC-CAP system is now up and running, with
a full worker manual and training pack and an IT
support system in place to enable its immediate
application either in DAATs or agencies.
LOOKING TO PARTNER
We are looking for agencies to partner with us in
testing the REC-CAP, which is based on reliable and
valid measures of wellbeing and recovery. It would
provide an agency with an opportunity to pioneer an
innovative recovery oriented approach to client
management and to work in collaboration with us.
The REC-CAP is unique – it is one of the first
tools that will help to maximise the recovery potential
of clients and introduce an evidence-based recovery
assessment into the care planning of clients that
starts but does not end with formal treatment. If you
would like more details on the REC-CAP or would be
interested in working with us as an early adopter of
the REC-CAP tool, please do not hesitate to contact
us at info@actrecovery.co.uk.
David Best, is director, ACT Recovery; head of
research and workforce development, Turning Point,
Melbourne and associate professor of addiction
studies, Monash University. Tracy Beswick is director
of operations and Merce Morell is director of resource
management at ACT Recovery, www.actrecovery.co.uk
February 2014 |
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Recovery |
Outcome analysis
Visual map of recovery wellbeing