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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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The PlasTax (Ireland)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The goal of the PlasTax is to reduce plastic bag consumption.

The REACH Promotora Community Coalition (Hidalgo and Cameron counties, TX)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce the rate of diabetes along the border of Texas and Mexico.

The Strategies for Workforce Inclusion and Family Training (SWIFT) Project (Minneapolis, MN)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment

Goal: Since Project SWIFT was not a direct service program, the major goal was for youth to receive direct services from partner agencies. Toward this aim, the project educated parents and staff from partner agencies to better meet the needs of youth with disabilities.

The Toolbox for Congestion Relief (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation, Urban

Goal: The goals of the study was to assess the benefits of using multiple and systematic strategies to reduce traffic congestion in three metropolitan areas in the U.S.

The Zombie Solution

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Families

Goal: The goal of The Zombie Solution is to teach youth to eat healthy and learn coping skills to deal with stress via games.

Think...Think Again Child Passenger Restraint Program (Canada)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Public Safety

Goal: The goal of the program was to improve child passenger safety.

Third Regional Plan for New York Tri-state Region (New York, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Economic Climate

Goal: The mission of the RPA is to improve the quality of life and the economic competitiveness of the 31-county New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region through research, planning, and advocacy.

Thoreau Community Center (Thoreau, NM)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Community & Business Resources, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The Thoreau Community Center provides resources and special programs focused on health/well-being, education, and recreation in order to inspire hope, joy, and progress within Thoreau and neighboring communities.

Threshold 21

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Economic Climate

Goal: MI seeks to build a critical mass of people and organizations with systems thinking skills, by promoting systems literacy and dynamic modeling tools in the public policy realm, civil society, private sector, and academic institutions in the developing and industrialized world.

Tobacco Control Compliance Check Program (5 Counties in SW Utah)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use

Goal: The goal of the program is to reduce the tobacco buy rate to minors. To accomplish this, the program aims to produce a "zero sale" result in each of the retail establishments every time a compliance check is conducted.

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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