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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.

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Driving and Dementia Toolkit (Ottawa, Canada)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of this toolkit is increase health care provider knowledge and confidence in assessing the driving skills of patients with dementia.

Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment Exception to Policy (Iowa)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children

Goal: The goal of the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment Exception to Policy program is to increase the amount of Medicaid-enrolled children who receive oral screenings and fluoride varnish applications.

Early Care and Education Program (Los Angeles)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Families

Goal: The Early Care and Education Program's goal is to provide the highest quality childcare and early education services to children from disadvantaged families.

Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) (Washington)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Families

Goal: ECEAP is a community-based, family-focused, comprehensive, pre-kindergarten program designed to help children and their families who are in poverty. The program focuses on helping three- and four-year-olds prepare for and succeed in school while helping their parents progress toward self-sufficiency.

Early Literacy and Learning Model (Florida)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education

Goal: ELLM aims to decrease literacy gaps in the K-12 system by improving emergent literacy skills through preschool curricula interventions, involving a multi-faceted approach of a rigorous classroom curricula, family involvement, a support system for the teachers, and ongoing assessment of current practices.

Educating and Delivering Financial Services to Low-Income, Underserved Residents and Businesses (Cuyahoga County, OH)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Investment & Personal Finance, Families

Goal: The goal is to offer members of poor and underserved communities ownership in an established financial cooperative. By purchasing shares in the Faith Community United Credit Union (FCUCU), individuals gain access to services and learn the difference between using what belongs to someone else and owning their own institution.

Engaging Men and Boys of Color to Improve Mental Wellbeing (Washington)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Children, Teens, Men, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: Making Connections for Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Men and Boys is a national initiative to transform community conditions that influence mental wellbeing. The Prevention Institute works with 13 communities across the U.S. to shift policies, practices, and norms to create greater opportunities for health and resilience, with particular focus on veterans and men and boys of color.

EnLace (Leadership and Civic Engagement)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Public Safety, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: In an effort to prepare and engage community residents to take a more participatory role in their communities, Monterey County Health Department (MCHD) developed and has offered since 2014 a leadership and civic engagement program (enLACE) that addresses the social determinants of health, community engagement and their relationship to the health of the community.

Evaluating Risk and Promoting Public Advocacy (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The goal of the "Environmental Scorecard" is to compare the risks of different chemical releases through a combination of raw data on toxic releases and environmental and human health data.

Evaluating Undoing Racism and Health Equity Training with a State Health Department

Filed under Good Idea, Health

Goal: In this particular instance, the goal of the Undoing Racism Workshops was to enhance the capacity of the Michigan Department of Community Health's Bureau of Family, Maternal & Child Health to reduce racial disparities in infant mortality.

Impact: The Undoing Racism workshop helped to increase competency in the following topics:
-Racial prejudice and racism
-Racial privilege and power
-Institutional, cultural, and internalized racism
-Instiutional norms and practices
-Racial health disparities
-Social determinants of racial health disparities

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.