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Promising Practices

The Promising Practices database informs professionals and community members about documented approaches to improving community health and quality of life.

The ultimate goal is to support the systematic adoption, implementation, and evaluation of successful programs, practices, and policy changes. The database provides carefully reviewed, documented, and ranked practices that range from good ideas to evidence-based practices.
Learn more about the ranking methodology.

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The Summer Youth Fellows Program (Atlanta, GA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Educational Attainment, Children

Goal: Hands on Atlanta aims to build community and meet critical needs through volunteer service and civic engagement. This program meets those goals while providing valuable work experience and education for youth.

VERB Summer Scorecard (Kentucky)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: To increase and maintain physical activity among tweens (youth ages 9-13).

VERB: It’s what you do. (USA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The mission of “VERB: It’s what you do” was to increase and maintain physical activity among youth aged 9 to 13 through a national social marketing campaign.

Worksite Wellness Programs for North Carolina Government Employees (North Carolina)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity

Goal: To reduce employee risk of developing chronic health conditions and to contain rising health care costs by establishing worksite wellness programs throughout state government.

Youth AIDS Prevention Project (Chicago)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of YAPP was to increase awareness of risky sexual behaviors and to reduce the risk of HIV and STD infection associated with such behaviors.

Advancing Diabetes Self Management: Holyoke Health Center, Inc. (Holyoke, MA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Advancing Diabetes Self Management project at the Holyoke Health Center was to improve health outcomes of patients with type 2 diabetes.

Arthritis Self-Help Course (Pasco County, FL)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Other Conditions, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of this course is to help participants with arthritis manage their pain so that they can exercise more, take less arthritis medication, and move with ease.

Bronx Museum Partnership (New York City)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Education / School Environment, Children, Urban

Goal: To integrate the arts into the teaching curriculum of P.S. 73 and supplement children's learning with valuable cultural experiences.

Building Community Supports for Diabetes (Galveston County, TX)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The goal of the program was to improve the health outcomes of people with type 2 diabetes by training community coaches to teach effective self-care.

Change of Heart (London, UK)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Adults

Goal: The goal of the Change of Heart behavioral intervention is to reduce risk factors for coronary heart disease.

An Effective Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success and/or promise in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures of improvement in outcome of interest (i.e. increase in voter registration, not just delivery of voter registration drive) and/ or the outcome measure is increased or improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant.

A Good Idea meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program funding source, program implementation steps and outcomes.
  2. The program evaluation is limited to descriptive measure(s) of success/accomplishment (i.e., program participation rates, number of services/education sessions/radio messages provided). Note: oftentimes, the program has been newly implemented and a program evaluation has not yet been conducted. Programs that have not yet been evaluated, but which show promise in improving health or quality of life, are classified as Good Ideas until an evaluation is conducted.

An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.

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