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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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Building Tulsa, Building Lives (Tulsa, Oklahoma)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Urban

Goal: Building Tulsa, Building Lives aims to end chronic homelessness in the city of Tulsa within five years (2007-2012) by creating sustainable, supportive housing through a public-private partnership of government agencies, philanthropic organizations, faith-based organizations and local communities.

Business Case for Breastfeeding (Kansas)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Adults, Women, Families

Goal: To improve the health and well-being of Kansans by working collaboratively to promote, protect and support breastfeeding.

Impact: Investing in nursing employee support services has proven to produce a 3 to 1 ROI through greater employee retention, increased productivity, lower health care costs and decreased sick days.

By My Side Birth Support Program (New York City, New York)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The mission of the By My Side Birth Support Program is to provide birth support and encourage breastfeeding among low-income and immigrant mothers living in Brooklyn through the use of doula services.

Impact: By March 2012, the By My Side Birth Support Program successfully trained more than 30 women in the community. These doulas, along with those already working for By My Side, participated in more than 100 births.

California Farm to School Program (California)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children

Goal: The goal of California Farm to School is to teach students about the path that food takes from the farm to their forks while instilling healthy eating habits.

California Votes Initiative (California)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Civic Engagement, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The Initiative's goal was to increase voter participation rates among infrequent voters, particularly in low-income and ethnic communities.

Cardiovascular Risk Management by Community Pharmacists (Iowa)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Adults, Rural

Goal: The goal of the Cardiovascular Risk Management by Community Pharmacists program is to reduce cardiovascular risk factors through pharmacist provided case management.

CareMore: Nonemergency Medical Transport

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

Goal: To provide transportation and improve patient satisfaction for nonemergency medical services.

Impact: CareMore's NEMT was so successful in the first 3 months, the programs were expanded in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Virginia.

CareSouth Carolina and the Northeastern Rural Health Network (South Carolina)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Adults, Rural

Goal: The goal of CareSouth Carolina and Northeastern Rural Health Network is to improve the behavioral health wellness of patients and residents.

Impact: The partnership between CareSouth Carolina and Northeastern Rural Health Network has reduced the stigma regarding mental health issues, improved care coordination, and increased the likelihood that patients receive the physical and mental health support they need in order to be healthy.

Caring for Kids (Kansas City, MO)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of Caring for Kids is to provide youth impacted by a loved one's substance use with the tools they need to stay safe and build a healthy life, and to reduce the likelihood that impacted youth will abuse substances.

Impact: In 2013, more than 250 youth were impacted by Caring for Kids. 90% of youth participants showed a decreased likelihood of alcohol or other drug use, and 100% completed an action plan.

Caring School Community Program

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / School Environment, Children

Goal: The goal of the Caring School Community program is to build classroom and school communities in order to support learning, academic success, positive relationships and character formation.

Impact: After 3 years, CSC students, relative to their comparison school counterparts, showed a greater sense of the school as a caring community, more fondness for school, stronger academic motivation, more frequent reading of books outside of school, a higher sense of efficacy, stronger commitment to democratic values, better conflict-resolution skills, more concern for others, more frequent altruistic behavior, and less use of alcohol.

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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