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, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Urban
Goal: Housing for Health program goals are to improve patients’ health, reduce costs to the public health system, and demonstrate DHS’s commitment to addressing homelessness within Los Angeles County.
Impact: The average public service utilization cost per participant for the year prior to housing totaled $38,146; in the year after receiving housing, it totaled $15,358. When taking into account PSH costs, RAND observed a 20-percent net cost savings, suggesting a potential cost benefit of the program.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases
Goal: The goal of the Jail Linkage Project is to connect the incarcerated population with health care screening and prevention services.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Families
Goal: The objectives of the campaign are (1) to educate parents about the importance of talking with their children and (2) to model techniques parents can use to have rich and elaborate conversations with their children.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Adults, Urban
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce childhood obesity and diabetes by increasing access to nutritious food for children and families.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The goal of the program is to increase fruit and vegetable consumption behavior in participants of the Women, Infants, and Children program in Genessee County, Michigan.
Impact: Participants of the program increased their fruit and vegetable consumption and the program had a positive effect on participants attitudes toward consuming fruits and vegetables.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Prevention & Safety, Teens
Goal: To prevent death and injury from car crashes among teens by reducing driving speed and driver distractions.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / School Environment, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce youth violence and aggressive behavior by initiating prevention early in childhood, increasing children's resilience, and reinforcing positive behaviors.
Impact: One evaluation found that there was an 89% decrease in physical aggression and an 82% decrease in verbal aggression for participating students.
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Civic Engagement, Older Adults, Families
Goal: The goal of the program is to create a sustainable, affordable, and healthy food system for a community through an urban farm and its various programs.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens
Goal: The goals of Photovoice are for Clarkston High School students to 1) document community health-related strengths and challenges through participatory research; 2) reflect, think critically, and dialogue about their research; 3) present their findings persuasively to pertinent stakeholders.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants
Goal: The goal of Project SWAT is to reduce the population of mosquitoes potentially carrying West Nile Virus by applying larvicide to common breeding habitats.