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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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HealthTran (Jefferson City, Missouri)

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

Goal: To provide transportation to patients in South Central Missouri who otherwise have non-existent, limited, or expensive transportation options to and from healthcare appointments.

Impact: HealthTran has helped to improve healthcare access and long-term health outcomes, as well as reduced preventable hospitalizations and unnecessary emergency department visits.

Healthy Active Lents (Portland, OR)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Built Environment

Goal: The goal of this program is to promote active people in active neighborhoods

Healthy Children, Healthy Weights (Columbus, OH)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children

Goal: The goal of the HCHW toolbox is to provide focused messages related to promoting a healthy weight in young children, along with practical strategies that may be used in multiple settings.

Healthy Generations Program (Washington, D.C.)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Adolescent Health, Children, Teens, Families

Goal: The program aims to provide comprehensive, family-centered health care for adolescent parents and their children.

Healthy Hawks (Kansas City, Kansas)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families, Urban

Goal: The program aims to reduce childhood obesity by using a three-stage approach to identifying root causes of the issue, developing and implementing behavioral strategies for weight management, and involving both the children and their families in adopting a healthy lifestyle.

Healthy Hometown Restaurant Initiative (Louisville, KY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Adults, Families

Goal: The goal of the Healthy Hometown Restaurant Initiative is to encourage Louisville restaurants to provide and promote healthier meal options.

Impact: Participants that have volunteered for the Healthy Hometown Restaurant Initiative include 16 restaurants with 33 locations and one caterer.

Healthy Kids Express Dental Van (St. Louis, Missouri)

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

Goal: The mission of Healthy Kids Express Dental is to improve oral healthcare in children through education on the importance of regular brushing, flossing, and using fluoride as well as through restorative treatments when necessary.

Impact: During the 2014-2015 school year, children pre-Kindergarten through 7th grade saw their average score on a dental knowledge test rise from 64.7% on the pretest to 72.1% on the posttest.

Healthy Pest Free Housing Initiative (Boston)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Respiratory Diseases, Children, Families, Urban

Goal: The Healthy Pest Free Housing Initiative aims to reduce environmental health risks and asthma among residents of Boston public housing through education, outreach, and systems change.

Healthy San Francisco (San Francisco)

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

Goal: The goal of Healthy San Francisco is to make health care services accessible to San Francisco's uninsured population.

Heartsong (White Plains, NY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health, Families, Urban

Goal: Heartsong’s mission is to provide children with special needs and their families with clinically-based music and art therapy programs.

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.