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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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Welvista (South Carolina)

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

Goal: The goal of Welvista is to provide prescription medications to those who cannot afford them.

WIC Community Garden (Johnson County, KS)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Women, Families

Goal: The goal of the WIC Community Garden is to educate, empower and feed the families in the Kansas WIC program, creating a healthier community.

Impact: In a three-month period, 356.8 pounds of fresh vegetables were given to WIC families.

WorkWell (Thurston County, WA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Adults

Goal: The goal of the WorkWell Intiative is to recognize and support local employers in Thurston County, WA who make a commitment to address workforce health issues.

Young at Heart Project (California)

Filed under Good Idea, Art & Recreation / Music, Older Adults

Goal: The Young at Heart Project aims to provide the therapeutic benefits of music and entertainment for senior citizens in convalescent and residential care facilities throughout Central and Northern California.

Youth Speaks (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Literacy, Teens

Goal: Youth Speaks aims to empower youth and effect change through written and oral literacy.

Cradle Kansas City

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families

Goal: Cradle Kansas City only has one goal, to close the health equity gap. By doing this, they will impact premature birth and infant and maternal mortality. They accomplish this through partnerships medical systems, resident-built strategies, and clear messaging that is aimed at systemic change.

Poder Latino: Community AIDS Prevention Program for Inner-City Latino Youth (Boston, MA)

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

Goal: The goal of the Community AIDS Prevention Program is to educate inner city Latino adolescents about how to reduce risk related to HIV/AIDS, and to encourage sexually active teens to use condoms.

Impact: This program shows that prevention programs targeting HIV/AIDS risk-reduction strategies and condom use encouragement can delay male initiation of sexual intercourse, reduce females' number of sexual partners, and increase likelihood of possessing a condom among sexually active youth.

Flex Your Power Case Study: City of Colton (Colton, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability

Goal: The objectives of the program were:
-assist lowincome customers,
-reduce energy use at city facilities and
-coordinate action between the city and its largest electric customers to implement emergency demand reduction/ load-shedding programs.

Best Practices of Mayors and Their City Governments in Promoting Tolerance and Respect for Diversity (Santa Clarita, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Families

Goal: The goals of the program are to: 1) reduce crime and improve public safety; 2) improve police-citizen cooperation and communication; 3) improve law enforcement responsiveness to members of the community; and 4) increase quality of life and increase police and citizen's ability to creatively solve community problems.

Blue Zones Vitality City Project: Albert Lea, MN (Albert Lea, MN)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle

Goal: To increase quality of life and longevity among members of a community through community-wide interventions which address community, social network, habitat, and inner self.

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.