Home > Promising Practices

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.

Submit a Promising Practice

Search Filters Clear all
(2408 results)

Save a link to this search

Ranking
Featured
Primary Target Audience
Topics and Subtopics
Geographic Type
Search

POSSE (Prevent Ongoing Spread of STDs Everywhere) (Forsyth County, NC)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the POSSE program is to increase STD awareness, prevention skills, and testing among racial and ethnic minorities.

Promoting Youth Volunteerism with a Multi-District Council (Boyd County, KY)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Civic Engagement, Children

Goal: The goal was for school administrators to coordinate efforts across districts for students to learn about volunteer opportunities and to become youth volunteers, as well as to teach character education and the merits of volunteerism in the elementary schools.

Salud, Educacion, Prevencion y Autocuidado (SEPA) (Chicago, IL)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Women's Health, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Salud, Educacion, Prevencion y Autocuidado is to eliminate or reduce sex risk behaviors.

Student Outreach for College Enrollment (Los Angeles)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Educational Attainment, Teens, Urban

Goal: SOURCE aims to help students from low-income families in the Los Angeles Unified School District to select and apply for college and financial aid.

The Fall-Asleep Pacifier (Finland)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Oral Health, Children, Rural

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce the dental cavity rate among children.

The Food Safety Tool Box (Columbus, OH)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Food Safety, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce the risk of foodborne illness outbreaks by educating licensed operators and food employees of proper food safety procedures.

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.

The Virginia Cardiovascular Health Program (Virginia)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve blood pressure monitoring and treatment.

Transcendental Meditation Stress Reduction Intervention for Congestive Heart Failure (Philadelphia, PA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the intervention is to use meditation to improve health and reduce the risk of heart failure among older African Americans with congestive heart failure.

Washington State Perinatal Partnership Against Domestic Violence (Washington)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Women's Health, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this project is to improve systems of care for Asian and Pacific Islander pregnant women who are experiencing domestic violence in order to address disparities in pregnancy outcomes in the Asian Pacific Islander Community.

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.

Kansas Health Indicators

Kansas Health Matters