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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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STOP-DWI (New York)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation, Adults

Goal: The goal of the Broome County STOP-DWI comprehensive DWI countermeasure program is to improve highway safety by preventing drunk driving through increased certainty of arrest and conviction.

Syracuse Family Development Research Program (Syracuse, NY)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children

Goal: The goal of this program was to improve child and family functioning.

Syringe Expanded Access and Disposal (Erie County, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to educate syringe users about access to clean syringes and proper medical waste disposal and to provide sharps containers and disposal sites to syringe users.

Targeted TB Testing and Treatment Program (Suffolk County, NY)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce rates of TB among foreign-born populations and to increase rates of treatment for latent TB infection.

Targeting the Taqueria - Steps To A Healthier Salinas (Salinas)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: To partner with local Mexican taqueria restaurants to promote healthy food options

Telephone Outreach to Increase Colon Cancer Screening (New York, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Cancer, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of this telephone outreach program was to increase colorectal cancer screening in a predominantly lower- to moderate-income African American population.

The Fortune Society (New York City)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Adults, Urban

Goal: The mission of The Fortune Society is to support successful reentry form prison and promote alternatives to incarceration, thus strengthening the fabric of our communities.

The Green Map System (GMS)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment

Goal: The goal of the Green Map System is to cultivate citizen participation and community sustainability in hundreds of places around the world.

The Greene Community Health Foundation (Greene County, OH)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality

Goal: The mission of the Greene Community Health Foundation is to 1. help assist underserved GCCHD clients with funding for medical needs, 2. find avenues of funding for clients, 3. develop partnerships with providers for reduced charges for clients, 4. develop community partnerships to strengthen programs and projects at GCCHD, and 5. develop state and national partnerships to strengthen the programs and projects at GCCHD.

The Harlem Hospital Injury Prevention Program (IPP) (Harlem, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent injuries and violence among children and adolescents in Harlem.

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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