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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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Exercise to Achievement (Madison, WI)

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

Goal: Tri 4 Schools encourages kids to participate in swimming, biking, and running as a way to live an active lifestyle and support health and fitness resources in schools.

Impact: Results of Exercise to Achievement are pending completion of the pilot program.

Exercise Training for Stroke Survivors (Chicago, IL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to use education and exercise improve outcomes for urban African American stroke survivors.

Expect Respect (Austin, TX)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Domestic Violence & Abuse, Teens, Urban

Goal: Expect Respect is a program designed to promote healthy teen relationships and prevent dating abuse.

Family Health Promotion (Tuscon, AZ)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal of the FHP program is to seek seeks to reduce risk factors and increase protective factors in the child and family domains.

Family Matters (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent tobacco and alcohol abuse among adolescents.

FamilyWize (Ventura County, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Children, Adults, Families, Rural

Goal: The goal of FamilyWize is to reduce the cost of medicine for children, families, and individuals with no prescription drug coverage.

Father/Male Involvement Preschool Teacher Education Program (Urbana, IL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Families

Goal: The goal of this program was to increase father/male involvement in state-funded preschool programs for at-risk students.

Feet First (Seattle, WA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity

Goal: The goals of this organization are to promote the rights and interests of pedestrians and to encourage walking.

Fight Asthma Milwaukee Allies (Milwaukee County, WI)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children

Goal: The goal of FAM Allies is reduce asthma related hospital stays among children by linking patients, their families, caregivers, and healthcare professionals with resources and education.

Fight The Bite Colorado (Tri-County, CO)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent the spread of this illness and protect human lives.

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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