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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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Health Impact Assessment in Land Use Development (San Francisco, CA)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to ensure that city planning and policy making accounts for how land use development impacts community health resources.

Health in All Policies

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Governance

Goal: The goal of Health in All Policies is to ensure that health effects are routinely taken into consideration when developing policy.

Impact: Health in All Policies initiatives have helped create healthier communities through implementing policies with health consequences in mind. For many counties, this includes creating cross-agency teams and workgroups to address problems in their community.

Healthy Eating, Active Living (HEAL) (Sonoma, CA)

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

Goal: The goal of the HEAL initiative is empower communities to make changes in their physical and social environment to improve nutrition and physical activity.

Healthy for Life in Sonoma County (Sonoma County)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families

Goal: Healthy for Life in Sonoma County is a pilot school-based intervention that seeks to reduce childhood obesity, increase student physical activity, and improve student access to nutrition and medical resources.

Homeless Prenatal Program (San Francisco)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Children, Women, Families, Urban

Goal: The Homeless Prenatal Program works with families to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty by providing prenatal and parenting support, family finances and stability, and basic needs services.

Housing Opportunities Program (San Mateo County, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Families

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide housing help and supportive services to low- income families transitioning to self-reliance.

Independent Transportation Network (Portland, ME)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The mission of this program is to provide a community-based, and community supported, economically viable and consumer-oriented, quality transportation service for seniors.

iWalk (Sonoma)

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

Goal: The goal of iWalk is to encourage and support regular walking and exercise among Sonoma county residents.

Janice Mirikitani Family, Youth and Childcare Center (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Children, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: The Janice Mirikitani Family, Youth and Childcare Center provides award winning childcare, after-school programs, and parenting resources to low-income and homeless families.

Jewish Vocational Service Programs for Youth with Disabilities (San Francisco)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment, Children

Goal: The Jewish Vocational Service's (JVS) mission is to bring people and work together. The organization accomplishes this by linking employers and individuals together to achieve the employment goals of the Jewish community by providing the skills necessary for success in today's workplace. JVS links employers and individuals to work together to achieve their employment goals through high quality customer service, innovative program strategies, and the use of new technologies.

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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