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.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Teens
The goal of the Lions Quest program is to promote healthy, safe, and drug-free behaviors in youth.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
The goal of the program is to identify and follow underserved adult residents with undiagnosed or untreated high blood pressure, cholesterol or glucose, provide education to encourage healthy lifestyle changes and encourage them to seek treatment – anyone without a primary care physician is referred to a participating FQHC.
Among those participants who were followed over time and were able to be reached by phone, there were significant increases in healthy food consumption as well as significant decreases in smoking, fat consumption, and fast food frequency.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle, Men, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Reduce unprotected insertive and receptive anal intercourse among HIV-negative black men who have sex with men (MSM) as well as to reduce the number of sex partners, increase consistent condom use during anal intercourse and increase testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle
- Increasing the number of people in Louisville Metro who engage in 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least 5 days a week by 15%.
- Decreasing the percentage of overweight or obese people in Louisville Metro by 10%.
- Increasing from 22% to 38% the number of people in Louisville Metro who eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
Past and future Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) surveys will be used to measure baseline and follow-up indicators.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children
To prevent or delay the onset of underage alcohol and tobacco use by encouraging healthy beliefs and attitudes about abstaining from substance use and by enhancing critical thinking skills to transform students into active media consumers.
Students who participated in the Media Detective program displayed a greater understanding of media deconstruction skills and persuasive intent. They also had greater self-efficacy to refuse substances compared to students who did not participate in the program.
Medical Legal Partnerships: Embedding Civil Legal Aid Services in Care for High-Utilizing Patients (Lancaster, PA)
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Governance, Children, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban
The goal of the pilot was to assess the impact on health care use of addressing patients’ civil legal problems – the social, financial, or environmental problems that require assistance from lawyers to remedy. The lawyer was embedded in the health care team and present during case management discussions to identify specific civil legal problems and to help the team better understand how to address them. Additionally, this partnership provided civil legal aid services to patients when needed in a community health care system.
This pilot shows a medical-legal partnership for the super-utilizers of healthcare can lead to efficiencies within the health care system, reduce costs, and improve health outcomes among the most vulnerable patients.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Teens, Adults, Urban
NAMI-DuPage's yearly goal is to complete 70 training courses per year.
Mental Health First Aid helps community members become aware of signs and symptoms of someone in a mental health crisis and become a resource to mental health and behavioral health programs in their community.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural
The mission of Migrant Health Promotion is to strengthen the capacity of farmworker and migrant families to live healthy lives within healthy communities.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Respiratory Diseases, Children
The Mobile C.A.R.E. Foundation’s mission is to provide complimentary and comprehensive asthma care and education to children and families in Chicago’s underserved communities via mobile medical units called "Asthma Vans."
The Mobile C.A.R.E. Foundation’s Asthma Vans provide children and families in Chicago’s underserved communities with complimentary and comprehensive asthma care and education resulting in reduced school absenteeism, decreased ER visits and lower hospitalization rates.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Adults, Women, Men
The goal of the promising practice is to reduce binge-drinking behavior in college students using motivational interviewing and personalized feedback techniques.
At an eight-week follow-up, all four groups reduced their consumption, peak BAC, consequences, and dependence symptoms.