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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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Prenatal Plus Program (Lake Worth, FL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Women, Urban

Goal: The overall goal of the Prenatal Plus Program, combined with the Partners for a Healthy Baby curriculum, is to improve birth outcomes, decrease rates of child abuse and neglect, and strengthen families.

Impact: Reduced low birth weight rate through risk reduction during pregnancy.

Reach for Health Community Youth Service (New York City, New York)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Reach for health Community Youth Service program is to reduce risky sexual behaviors among urban Latino and African American youth.

Impact: Long-term impact has been recorded among participants after two years: this includes delayed initiation of intercourse and reduced frequency of intercourse among sexually active adolescents.

Reconciliation Services Depression and Trauma Therapy Services (Kansas City/Jackson/Missouri)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Adults, Women, Men, Urban

Goal: The mission of Reconciliation Services is to cultivate a community seeking reconciliation to transform Troost from a dividing line into a gathering place, revealing the strength of all. Our mental health services are at the heart of how we strive to help clients see their own strength and work towards being reconciled to their own health and well-being.

Impact: Over the past three years, our therapy program participants reported a 71 percent decrease for depression and 79 percent decrease for PTSD.

Rhode Island Greenhouse Gas Action Plan (Rhode Island)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The Rhode Island process builds on a recent agreement among all the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers to reduce greenhouse gases in the region to 1990 levels by 2010, 10% below those levels in 2020, and by as much as 75% over the longer-term.

Salud Para Su Corazón (Health for Your Heart) (Washington D.C.)

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

Goal: The goal of Salud Para Su Corazón is to raise awareness and knowledge of heart disease risk factors and prevention among Latino populations.

Something to Smile About Dental Program (Garrett County, MD)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Oral Health, Children, Women

Goal: The purpose of the "Something to Smile About" dental program is to improve dental outcomes for children in Garrett County, Maryland.

Stepping Up To Health (Michigan)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Adults, Urban

Goal: To determine whether online peer support will increase adherence to an Internet-based pedometer walking program.

Impact: Stepping up to Health shows that online communities can help reduce attrition within online health behavior change interventions.

Steps to a Healthier Washington (Washington)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Adults

Goal: The mission of the Steps to a Healthier Washington program is to integrate existing chronic disease programs to achieve policy and systems changes.

Syracuse Family Development Research Program (Syracuse, NY)

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

Goal: The goal of this program was to improve child and family functioning.

Youth Villages YVLifeSet

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Teens

Goal: Youth Villages helps children and families live successfully.

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.