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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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Native American Prevention Project Against AIDS and Substance Abuse

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The primary goals of this project are to prevent HIV/AIDS and substance abuse among Native Americans.

Project DIRECT (Diabetes Interventions Reaching and Educating Communities Together) (Raleigh, NC)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of Project DIRECT is to improve diabetes prevention and care among African Americans in Raleigh, NC.

Promoting Adult Health and Development with an Intergenerational Program (College Park, MD)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of AHDP is to encourage health promotion by using a strategy primarily directed at postponement of chronic illness and improvement of vitality through increased physical, psychological and social activity.

Sistering, Informing, Healing, Living, and Empowering (Birmingham, AL)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Family Planning, Teens, Women

Goal: The SiHLE intervention aims to reduce sexual risk behaviors among sexually experienced African American adolescents.

The Bricklayers and Laborers Nonprofit Housing Corp (Boston, MA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes

Goal: The goal of this program is to create affordable housing targeted for low- and moderate-income first-time home buyers in downtown Boston.

The Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children

Goal: To reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease by reducing risk factors among children.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Breast and Cervical Cancer Coalition (Birmingham, AL)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Cancer, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce disparities in breast and cervical cancer screening and outcomes between African American and white women through the use of community advisors.

Washington State Diabetes Collaboratives (WSDC) (Washington)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve health outcomes for people with diabetes in Washington.

Washington State Perinatal Partnership Against Domestic Violence (Washington)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Women's Health, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this project is to improve systems of care for Asian and Pacific Islander pregnant women who are experiencing domestic violence in order to address disparities in pregnancy outcomes in the Asian Pacific Islander Community.

Art Not Crime (Portland, Oregon)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: Art Not Crime promotes social sustainability by providing a safe place for individuals to create urban inspired pieces of art and display them where their art is appreciated as the language of this new culture and not classified as crime.

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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