What is the RCI?

The RCI has 30 items that were designed to help you to think about key personal and service supports in your life and reflect on:

•     how important you consider them to your own wellbeing and recovery
•     how often these supports happen

The results will allow you to think about what is going well in your life and areas you may choose to work on. You may decide to use the RCI Workbook to develop a Personal Recovery Action Plan.

Why was the RCI Developed?

In response to the new understanding of recovery, the Recovery Context Inventory (RCI) was developed by EVE to:

• help people to consider all those aspects of their lives which they believe have the greatest impact on their mental health and wellbeing
• support people who wish to engage in recovery planning
• support services to respond to each individual’s priorities for mental health recovery

It was identified that a gap existed for a quality-assured inventory that could capture the uniqueness of personal recovery for each individual, as well as the interplay between internal and external factors related to peoples’ personal lives and the contact they have with mental health services.

The RCI was developed using best practice principles in scale development based on the doctoral thesis of Tom O'Brien.  To find out more about the development of the RCI click here. 

Why use the RCI?

People who use the RCI say it has given them the opportunity to reflect on their lives and pinpoint areas important to their own unique recovery process. This process has been useful in developing their personal recovery action plan and has helped them become more focussed in their own personal recovery efforts.

How do I use the RCI?

What are the Key Features of the RCI?

• The RCI provides a personalised profile of different aspects of life circumstances which are supporting or inhibiting a person’s recovery and wellbeing.
• It supports self-discovery and the development of a personal recovery plan through the use of the RCI Recovery Planning Workbook.
• It enables an appreciation of areas of strength.
• The RCI allows people to track changes in their recovery profiles as they can complete the RCI again and compare profiles over time.
• It can facilitate the sharing of key information with people whom the individual feels are an important support for their recovery.
• The RCI has a unique rating system that recognises the centrality and individual nature of the personal recovery experience.
• Its development has been based upon a rigorous and scientific development process, involving persons in recovery and other stakeholders in Ireland and the United Kingdom, with academic support.

Download the RCI

For further information or enquiries about using the RCI, please contact rci@eve.ie