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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.

Practices that were submitted by local partners are listed first and will have a green box below them that indicates they are local. Users can also use the search features to find promising practices from across the country.

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Northern Michigan Diabetes Initiative (Northwest Lower Michigan)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Children, Teens, Adults, Rural

Goal: The overall goal is to reduce the prevalence of diabetes and improve the care of people with diabetes.

Nutrition Education for Families with Financial Problems (The Netherlands)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Families

Goal: To increase dietary variety, decrease the intake of saturated fat and increase the intake of vegetables during the main meal among families with financial problems.

Operation Walking Shield

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: Walking Shield's mission is to improve the quality of life and create positive futures for American Indians who live on our nation's reservations by managing and coordinating programs that provide shelter, healthcare, food and clothing, educational assistance, community development assistance, and humanitarian support.

Outdoor Air Quality Flag Program (San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Air, Children

Goal: The program aims to accomplish two things in Central California: (1) permanently change local policy with respect to existing operating procedures in school districts and schools to help reduce exposure of students, teachers, staff and nearly communities to outdoor environmental asthma triggers ;and (2) provide education on air quality and potential health effects from exposure to air pollutants.

Petitioning EPA to Add New Chemicals to the Toxics Release Inventory (Oakland, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Coalition was to encourage the EPA to add dioxins as reportable chemicals unter the Toxics Release Inventory

Project SWAT (Share the Work to Alleviate the Threat) (Erie County, NY)

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.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Adults

Goal: The mission of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is to create a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors to build healthier places for healthier people.

Impact: Rails-to-Trails Conservancy encourages people of all ages and abilities to get outside and be active on a rail-trail. The organization serves 150,000 members and supporters on over 20,000 miles of rail-trail.

Red Hook Farmers' Market (New York, NY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Women, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Red Hook Farmers’ Market is to ensure that neighborhood residents can access locally grown, healthy, safe, and affordable food.

Red Rock Ridge and Val­ley Trail Sys­tem (Jefferson County, AL)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Adults, Families

Goal: The Red Rock Ridge & Valley Trail System will be a complete network of bike lanes, sidewalks, and trails connecting communities across Jefferson County.

Impact: The master plan for over 200 miles of shared-use greenways and trails and over 600 miles of street-based bicycle and pedestrian pathways will improve alternative transportation and recreational opportunities.

Renewal House (Western Connecticut region)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Housing & Homes, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of renewal house is to reduce homelessness of older individuals in Greater Danbury Area, CT, by providing safe, secure housing, renewing a sense of hope, reinforcing self-worth and restoring dignity and confidence.

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.
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