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 Local, Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children
Goal: Kansas’s Step It Up: Taking Steps to Healthy Success (Step It Up) Project aims to work towards making improvements to policies and practices in child care programs with regard to breastfeeding, child nutrition, physical activity, outdoor learning, and reductions in screen time. Step It Up is an extension of the National Early Care and Education Learning Collaboratives Project (ECELC) and uses a similar learning collaborative model.
Impact: Step It Up: Taking Steps to Healthy Success has made great improvements in promoting healthy eating and physical activity. The topics of Child Nutrition and Infant & Child Physical Activity had the highest number of increases in best practices. Breastfeeding & Infant Feeding had the highest percentage of best practices being met at pre-assessment (55%).
Filed under Local, Effective Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Families, Rural
Goal: The Perfect 10 Project objective is to increase the initiation rates of breastfeeding to 84%, increase our duration rates of breastfeeding by 25% at 6 months to 35.8% (currently 28.6%), and 32.6% at one year (currently 18.1%).
Impact: There were 102 physician referrals from the Lower 8 counties for breastfeeding assistance in the first six months of 2016, 148 breastfeeding moms were helped through our after-hours hotline in the first six months, and 24 moms attended our Mommy & Me breastfeeding support group.
Dementia Care Certificate: A Comprehensive Walk Through Caring for Someone With Dementia (Overland Park, Kansas)
Filed under Local, Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults
Goal: To improve the quality of life for persons with dementia regardless of the setting and provide caregivers with the insight and tools needed for the care they provide.
Impact: The Dementia Care Certificate program has improved practices in skilled nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and additionally has resolved countless problems for family and home caregivers.
Filed under Local, Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Adults, Women, Families
Goal: To improve the health and well-being of Kansans by working collaboratively to promote, protect and support breastfeeding.
Impact: Investing in nursing employee support services has proven to produce a 3 to 1 ROI through greater employee retention, increased productivity, lower health care costs and decreased sick days.
Filed under Local, Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Teens, Adults, Women, Families
Goal: The goal of the Child Care Provider Education program is to improve the health and well-being of Kansans by working collaboratively to promote, protect and support breastfeeding.
Impact: Over the course of five years, the program has educated over 3,200 child care providers on how to support the breastfeeding mother and family.
Filed under Local, Good Idea, Health / Cancer, Adults, Rural
Goal: To get as many age appropriate people screened as possible in the community and to raise awareness about the life-saving practice of colorectal screening.
Impact: Many cancers have been found and many have been prevented. The population has expressed gratitude for this program and the partners (such as the pharmacies and the hospital lab) are proud to be part of it.
Increasing Age-Appropriate Immunization Rates for Children in Butler County and Surrounding Area (Butler County, KS)
Filed under Local, Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Children, Rural
Goal: The goal of this program was to increase immunization rates in the Butler County area.
Impact: Immunization rates increased from 53.2% to 72.4% and parents reported a better understanding of the importance of timely vaccinations.
Filed under Local, Good Idea, Health / Women's Health, Women, Rural
Goal: To increase access to and use of mammography as a means of early detection of breast cancer.
Filed under Local, Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Urban
Goal: The goal of this workshop is to build the participants’ self-confidence in their ability to manage their health and maintain active and fulfilling lives despite their chronic disease condition.
Impact: In 2016 Derby Health Collaborative hosted six free self-management education courses in partnership with the Derby School District, the Derby Senior Center, the Derby Public Library and the Kansas State Extension and Research Center. Workshops will continue in 2017.
Quality Improvement Project to Improve the Immunization Rate in the Women, Infant, and Children Program (Reno County, KS)
Filed under Local, Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families, Urban
Goal: The goal of this program is to increase the immunization rate of WIC children.
Impact: The WIC immunization rate for 2 year olds increased from 33% in the 3rd quarter of 2011 to 83% in the 4th quarter of 2012. The no-show rate for WIC appointments decreased from 68% to 27.6%.