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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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Living in the Face of Trauma (LIFT)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Women, Men

Goal: Eliminate or reduce sexual transmission risk behavior and to improve coping with the combined stressors of HIV infection and child sexual abuse.

Impact: LIFT intervention participants reported significantly fewer counts of unprotected vaginal and anal intercourse with all partners (p < .001) and with HIV-negative or unknown serostatus partners (p < .001), compared to support group participants.

Local Shuttles Connecting Neighborhoods - Boulder, Colorado, Community Transit System (Boulder, CO)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation

Goal: GO Boulder's mission is to develop a sustainable and balanced transportation system supporting the quality of life valued by Boulder's residents, employees, and visitors.

Man Therapy (Colorado)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Men

Goal: The goal of Man Therapy is to change social norms regarding men's mental health and to encourage men to seek care.

Impact: Almost 60,000 "18-Point Head Inspections" or self-assessments were completed, and 19,586 people accessed the crisis information. Of the 7,933 visitors to the site surveyed, 51% agreed or strongly agreed they were more likely to seek help after visiting the site.

Market Bucks (Minneapolis, MN)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity

Goal: The goal of the Market Bucks program is to encourage shopping at farmers' markets and healthier eating.

Impact: Market Bucks have successfully increased the amount of EBT purchases made at farmers markets and increased fruit and vegetable consumption among participants.

Massachusetts Click It or Ticket Campaign (Massachusetts)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation

Goal: The Click It or Ticket Campaign Enhancement and Evaluation project's goals were to:

-Increase safety belt use in Massachusetts; and
-Evaluate the impact of adding educational activities to standard enforcement mobilization waves.

Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program (Massachusetts)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation & Prevention Program is to improve public health in the Commonwealth by reducing death and disability from tobacco use.

MatchBridge (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Employment, Teens, Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of MatchBridge is to diversify the future's workforce and reduce poverty by helping youth develop the skills that they need to secure employment.

Medicaid Travel of Pediatric Dental Teams (Alaska)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Children, Urban

Goal: The goal of the program was to reduce barriers to dental care and increase the use of dental care among underserved children living in remote locations in Alaska.

Medical Nutrition Therapy Program (Mexico)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the Medical Nutrition Therapy program is to decrease perinatal complications in pregnant women with type 2 Diabetes in Mexico City.

Medical-Legal Partnerships: Investing in Social Services as a Core Strategy for Healthcare (New York City)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Children, Teens, Adults, Urban

Goal: New York City LegalHealth is a fruitful partnership that operates in 11 clinics of the city's public hospitals. One example is by supporting individuals in tenant-landlord disputes.

Impact: With an average of $225 per case, LegalHealth was able to effectively demand fixes in asthma patients' living conditions. This impact directly resulted in a 90% drop in emergency room visits and hospital admissions for this asthma patient group.

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.