Promising Practices

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce or stop smoking among adolescents.

Impact: At 3-month follow-up, 17% of youths in the treatment conditions reported having quit smoking for at least 30 days, compared with only 8% of those teens in the control condition. These positive effects were also demonstrated when moved from a clinic setting to the classroom, as students in the program condition experienced a greater reduction in weekly smoking and monthly smoking, at 6-and-12-month follow-ups.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity

Goal: The goal of the study was to evaluate a community-based food support intervention in the San Francisco Bay Area for people living with HIV and/or type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) to determine the feasibility, acceptability, and potential impact of the intervention on nutritional, mental health, disease management, healthcare utilization, and physical health outcomes.

Impact: Comprehensive, medically appropriate food support is feasible and may improve multiple health outcomes for food-insecure individuals living with chronic health conditions.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults

Goal: The goal of Project PREVENT is to reduce behavioral risk factors for colorectal cancer among individuals with positive screenings.

Impact: A significantly greater proportion of Project PREVENT participants reduced their multiple risk factor score when compared to the control group (47% vs. 35%). Intervention participants also had significantly greater multivitamin intake and significantly reduced red meat consumption.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Urban

Goal: To promote water consumption with an educational and environmental intervention in elementary schools of deprived urban areas to prevent overweight.

Impact: This program shows that environmental and educational, school-based interventions can have effective impact in the prevention of overweight among children in elementary school, even in a population from socially-deprived areas.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: The primary goal of the School Lunch Initiative is to transform the way Berkeley public school students eat lunch and to educate children about food, health, and the environment.

Impact: Three years after its conception, the program successfully eliminated nearly all processed foods from the school district dining halls and introduced fresh and organic foods to the daily menu. There was evidence that greater exposure to the School Lunch Initiative was significantly associated with higher nutrition knowledge scores among fourth graders and seventh graders. Furthermore, elementary school students from the schools with highly developed School Lunch Initiative components clearly expressed a higher preference for fruits and vegetables.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Teens, Urban

Goal: The Goals of Project Aware include:

1) Increase capacity of adults to respond to behavioral health issues of adolescents
2) Increase the mental health literacy of youth-interacting adults
3) Link adolescents with behavioral health issues to mental, emotional, and behavioral health assistance and services
4) Increase the number of collaborative partnerships with youth- serving community agencies/programs
5) Conduct outreach and engagement strategies with adolescents and their families/caregivers to increase awareness of and promote positive behavioral health

Impact: Collaboration and partnerships can help drive awareness of mental health issues and training adolescents in Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) can help spread awareness of mental health resources and referrals to professionals.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / School Environment, Children

Goal: The goal of the program is to decrease school bullying problems by 1) increasing staff awareness and responsiveness, 2) fostering socially responsible beliefs, and 3) teaching social-emotional skills to counter bullying and promote healthy relationships. Thus the program also aims to promote skills (e.g., group joining, conflict resolution) associated with general social competence.

Impact: Students in the intervention schools reported significantly less acceptance of bullying/aggression, perceived greater adult responsiveness, and felt more responsible to intervene with friends who were bullied (bystander responsibility) than students in the control schools.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Built Environment

Goal: The mission of the members of Sustainable Slopes is to be leaders among outdoor recreation providers through managing their businesses in a way that demonstrates their commitment to environmental protection and stewardship while meeting the expectations of the public.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders

Goal: Baylor Scott & White started TelePsych because many of its hospitals do not have any psychologists or psychiatrists on staff. The Hillcrest hospital in particular has seen an increase in patients needing acute mental health care. Its location next to the highway and the dearth of other trauma centers means that the hospital receives 1-2 patients per day with acute mental health needs. Hillcrest has licensed medical social workers in the Emergency Department but struggled without an actual psychologist or psychiatrist available. Their goal in implementing TelePsych was to move mental health patients through the continuum of care efficiently and with empathy.

Impact: The hospital staff at Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest has been very impressed with the implementation and ease of use of the TelePsych process and system. Patient satisfaction has increased and staff are able to move patients through the next level of care more efficiently.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders

Goal: The end goal of The Living Room is to reduce recidivism to the hospital and pair those in need with the right resources to help them be able to handle their mental health crises and move away from using The Living Room. Additionally, a main goal of The Living Room is matching those in need with a particular peer specialist to create a lasting connection.

Impact: Connects individuals experiencing mental health illness or crises to peer specialists which help reduce recidivism to the emergency room or hospital, help manage future crises, and provide a connection to continued non-clinical support and resources.