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 Good Idea, Education
Goal: McREL is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education research, development, and service organization that helps schools, districts, and education agencies improve outcomes for all students. We help school and system clients in all kinds of communities analyze their performance, identify the root causes of challenges, build their staff capacities, and find the under-used bright spots they can scale up to make an even bigger difference for every student.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children
Goal: 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.
Impact: 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: Investing in Social Services as a Core Strategy for Healthcare (New York City)
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Children, Teens, Adults, Urban
Goal: New York City LegalHealth is a fruitful partnership that operates in 11 clinics of the city's public hospitals. One example is by supporting individuals in tenant-landlord disputes.
Impact: With an average of $225 per case, LegalHealth was able to effectively demand fixes in asthma patients' living conditions. This impact directly resulted in a 90% drop in emergency room visits and hospital admissions for this asthma patient group.
Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Economic Climate
Goal: Memphis Fast Forward is the shared vision and unprecedented action plan to create good jobs, a better-educated workforce, a safer community, a healthier citizenry and efficient government in Memphis and Shelby County.
Impact: Major violent and property crime were reduced by 22.8% and 25.5%. The pool of high-potential teacher candidates increased from 21 to 1,800 in one year. More than 15,000 jobs were created. New capital investment of $4.2 billion was generated. Local governments saved more than $75 million.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Teens, Adults, Urban
Goal: The goals of the Mental Health First Aid course are to: 1) learn to identify risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, 2) utilize evidence-based strategies to help someone in both crisis and non-crisis situations, and 3) become a resource in your community to guide people where to turn for help.
NAMI-DuPage's yearly goal is to complete 70 training courses per year.
Impact: 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.
Methodist Germantown Diabetes-Self Management Education & Support (DSMES) Service (Shelby County, TN)
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The organization goal for the DSMES Service is to help each person living with diabetes attain knowledge and/or skills that may enable and empower them to perform effective self-care, promote wellness and prevent sickness and complications
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 Effective Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Families
Goal: The program's mission is to help prepare children of migrant workers in California to be successful in school.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children
Goal: Program objectives are to:
- Plan and conduct five sets of interactive tobacco prevention mini-sessions for youth and parents in multiple school-linked settings;
- Plan and implement one annual media advocacy event coordinated with the national Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
- Plan and conduct tobacco educational outreach and implementation guidance for coaches and athletic staff. Teen Presenters deliver tobacco prevention mini-sessions to younger children, grades 1-6.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Government Assistance, Families
Goal: The goal of the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) is to help families transition to economic stability by providing financial incentives to work.
Impact: Although MFIP cost Minnesota more than the ADFC welfare program, MFIP overall increased employment and wage earnings of participants by supplementing low income with welfare supplements. Most encouragingly, there is evidence to suggest the effects of the program persist after the program ended for the most disadvantaged.