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.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Children, Teens, Families
Goal: The goal of Communities That Care is to mobilize communities to prevent future substance abuse by reducing risk factors for children between the ages of 10 and 14.
Impact: Communities That Care reduces initiation of substance abuse behaviors in youth aged 10-14.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families
Goal: To teach children and parents how to manage anxiety disorders.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Families
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce aggressive behavior and delinquency in children by applying the contextual sociocognitive model.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Families
Goal: The goal of this program is to help preschool children learn emotional self-regulation and facilitate their psychosocial development.
Impact: The Early HeartSmarts program was effective in increasing children’s social/emotional, physical, cognitive and language development in a classroom setting.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Poverty, Adults, Women, Men, Families, Urban
Goal: The goal of the Family Peer Support program is to increase family economic and social self-sufficiency, and to connect parents to needed physical health, behavior health, and educational resources for their child. Family peer support programs generally focus on fostering encouragement of personal responsibility and self-determination, improving family health and wellness, and supporting engagement and communication with providers and systems of care. Research shows that peer support programs promote empowerment and self-esteem, self-management, engagement and social inclusion, as well as improving the social networks of families who receive these services. Research evidence qualifies peer support services as evidence-based through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality guidelines.
Salzer MS, Schwenk E, Brusilovskiy E: Certified peer specialist roles and activities: results from a national survey. Psychiatric Services 61:520–523, 2010.
Repper J, Carter T: A review of the literature on peer support in mental health services. Journal of Mental Health 20: 392–411, 2011.
Cook JA: Peer-delivered wellness recovery services: from evidence to widespread implementation. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal 35:87–89, 2011
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Food Safety, Children, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The goal of the Fight BAC! campaign is to educate the public about four basic practices - clean, separate, cook and chill - that reduce the risk of foodborne illness.
Impact: The study showed that culturally competent, social marketing campaigns are likely to improve awareness, knowledge, and attitudes around food safety among Latino consumers.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Teens, Families
Goal: The goal of this program is to provide positive family strengthening resources to youth at risk and in need.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Families
Goal: The primary goal of GGC is to reduce youth substance abuse and problem behaviors by increasing family involvement that is rewarding and enhances parent-child bonds.
Impact: Significant positive effects on increasing family involvement and interaction and reducing youth substance abuse were observed. A cost-benefit analysis estimates a $5.85 benefit for every dollar invested in the program.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Children, Families
Goal: The goal of Early Head Start (EHS) is to promote healthy prenatal outcomes for pregnant women, enhance the development of very young children, and promote healthy family functioning. The goal of Head Start is to increase school readiness of young children in low-income families.
Impact: Studies have demonstrated positive effects of the program for both 3- and 4-year-old children on pre-reading, pre-writing, vocabulary, and parent reports of children’s literacy skills. For 3-year-olds, a greater number of parents reported improved access to health care and better health status.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Teens, Families, Urban
Goal: The mission of Head to Toe is to teach children and their families the skills to manage body weight as they grow by living a healthy lifestyle that includes regular physical activity, healthy eating habits, and a positive self-image.
Impact: From August 2011 to May 2016, 485 children and their parents or guardians have enrolled in the Head to Toe program. Head to Toe has effectively increased knowledge of nutrition, physical activity and emotional health among participants.