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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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North Carolina Breast Cancer Screening Program (North Carolina)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Cancer, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The goal of the North Carolina Breast Cancer Screening Program is to increase breast cancer screening among older African American women.

NYC FITNESSGRAM (New York)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal of the program is to assist students in establishing physical activity as part of their daily lives.

Open Airways for Schools (OAS) (Chicago, IL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of the Open Airways for Schools intervention is to improve asthma control among children in Latino communities in Chicago.

Parent Child Development Center

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Families

Goal: The goal of this program is to foster positive family relationships.

Parent Voices (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Children, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal of Parent Voices is to improve access to child care for all families through advocacy.

Partnering with a Bakery to Provide Breakfast to Low-Income Schools (United Kingdom)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Urban

Goal: The goal of this partnership is to provide a healthy breakfast to low-income students to help them perform better in school.

Partners in Reading (Greensboro, NC)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve reading skills for beginner readers.

Peacekeepers (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Urban

Goal: The goal of Peacekeepers is to prevent violence among youth in the Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco.

Petitioning EPA to Add New Chemicals to the Toxics Release Inventory (Oakland, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Coalition was to encourage the EPA to add dioxins as reportable chemicals unter the Toxics Release Inventory

PFC Emission Reduction Partnerships (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Air

Goal: EPA's partners have committed to reduce PFC emissions 10 percent below their 1995 baseline by 2010.

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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