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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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The Continuum of Program-Enriched Services (Denver, CO)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes

Goal: The goal of this program is to promote economic survival and stability for vulnerable populations.

The Cross-Cultural Workgroup on Tobacco (Washington)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce tobacco use among groups experiencing the most pronounced tobacco-related disparities.

The F.U.N. Initiative (Garfield, NJ)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Education / School Environment

Goal: The overall mission of this initiative is to develop an active, healthy community. Goals of this initiative include increasing the number of children walking or biking to school, and developing opportunities for Garfield's children and families to be more physically active and eat more healthily.

The Medication Assistance Program (MAP) (Grant County, NM)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The mission of the Health Council is to enhance the quality of life in Grant County, New Mexico, through assessment of needs, planning and prioritizing, and coordinating of efforts to meet those needs.

The Mercury Challenge (USA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The goal of the Mercury Challenge is to eliminate mercury from industrial sites.

The Minnesota Youth Tobacco Prevention Initiative (Minnesota)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens

Goal: The goal of the Initiative was to reduce youth tobacco use by 30% by 2005.

The Self Center (School-Linked Reproductive Health Services) (Maryland)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of the program was to provide year-round reproductive and contraceptive education and services to students of two inner-city schools in Baltimore, Maryland with high rates of sexual activity and teen pregnancy.

The Steps Program (Pinellas, FL)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of the Steps Program is to encourage healthy eating among elementary school students.

The Taunton Oral Health Collaborative (Taunton, MA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Oral Health, Children, Teens, Adults

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide free and reduced-cost oral health services to children and adults.

Transcendental Meditation Stress Reduction Intervention for Congestive Heart Failure (Philadelphia, PA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of the intervention is to use meditation to improve health and reduce the risk of heart failure among older African Americans with congestive heart failure.

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.