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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 HEALTHY Study (USA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Diabetes, Children, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The primary goal of the intervention was to reduce overweight and obesity prevalence among middle school students. Ancillary goals were to improve BMI and fasting insulin values, increase water consumption, reduce consumption of beverages with added sugar, increase healthy food choices, improve self-monitoring, and increase exercise time among sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students.

Impact: School-based programs that aim to address childhood obesity and adiposity may reduce individuals' risk of developing childhood-onset of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

The San Francisco Wraparound Project (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: The mission of The San Francisco Wraparound Project is to prevent violent injury and break the cycle of violence by addressing root causes and risk factors.

Urban Women Against Substance Abuse (Hartford, CT)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Women

Goal: The goal of UWASA is to teach girls to build their cultural and gender identity, discourage alcohol and drug use, promote HIV awareness, and explore possible career options.

West Harlem Waterfront Park Project (New York)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Environmental Justice, Children, Adults, Urban

Goal: The goals of the West Harlem Waterfront Park Program are to bridge green spaces along the Hudson River and enhance waterfront access, economic development, and regional transportation alternatives in the West Harlem community.

WIC Community Garden (Johnson County, KS)

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

Goal: The goal of the WIC Community Garden is to educate, empower and feed the families in the Kansas WIC program, creating a healthier community.

Impact: In a three-month period, 356.8 pounds of fresh vegetables were given to WIC families.

Worcester Goods for Guns Buyback (G4G) Program (Worcester, MA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Public Safety, Children, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: The goals of this program are three-fold: first, to remove unwanted improperly stored guns from homes; second, to educate the community about the increased risk of gun-related injuries in the home and the importance of safe gun storage; and third, to identify individuals possessing improperly stored guns at home and provide them with safety information and alternatives.

Impact: This program shows a strong collaboration between health care providers and public safety offices and showcases a low-cost means of removing unwanted firearms from the community. Additionally, most participants felt their homes were safer after turning in their firearm(s).

Wright County Public Health Wellness On Wheels Program (Wright County, MN)

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

Goal: The objectives of WOW are to promote optimal health, to reduce behavioral risks and to promote early detection and improved management of health problems and risks.

Substance Use Disorder Assessment and Resource Navigation (Austin, TX)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Adults, Urban

Goal: To engage patients who may benefit from early intervention and/or education about substance use disorders, and to direct the individuals toward treatment options at the most appropriate levels of care.

Adolescents Living Safely (New York City, NY)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of Adolescents Living Safely is to prevent HIV infection and AIDS among runaway adolescents.

Impact: Adolescents Living Safely changes youth sexual behavior to reduce transmission of HIV among runaways.

AfterZone Initiative (Providence)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children

Goal: The initiative's mission was to create a citywide system to support and sustain high-quality after-school programs.

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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