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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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YMCA Diabetes Support Group (Jacksonville, FL)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Urban

Goal: The Diabetes Support Group provides ongoing education and support to those living with, at risk for, or affected by diabetes in the community.

Youth United Through Health Education (YUTHE) Program (San Francisco)

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

Goal: The goal of the program is to increase awareness of screening for sexually transmitted infections in African-American adolescents.

Preventing Recurring Homelessness Among Mentally Ill Men Using a Critical Time Intervention (CTI) (New York City, NY)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Men, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of this Critical Time Intervention (CTI) is to prevent recurring homelessness in the mentally ill.

The Abuela Project (Yakima County, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Food Safety, Children, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The goal of the Abuela Project is to reduce the number of cases of salmonellosis caused by Salmonella Typhimurium due to consumption of queso fresco made from raw-milk in Yakima County, Washington.

Advancing Diabetes Self Management: St. Peter Family Medicine Residency Program (Olympia, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of Advancing Diabetes Self Management at the St. Peter Family Medicine Residency Program was to support healthy self management among people with chronic conditions.

TeleKidcare® (Kansas)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The main goal of this project is to reduce the time that a child spends out of the classroom recuperating from an acute illness. This goal is based on the fact that TeleKidcare® transforms the school health room from a triage center to a site of care. TeleKidcare® also addresses the shared community goal of keeping children healthy and in school learning by providing health care service to children at school.

FirstAir Asthma Education Program (Chicago, IL)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Respiratory Diseases, Adults

Goal: The goal of the FirstAir Asthma Education Program is to increase knowledge of asthma treatments and improve self-management.

Free Nicotine Patch Program (New York, NY)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Urban

Goal: The program was designed to direct-mail a free, six-week course of nicotine treatment to eligible callers, thereby increasing access and reducing cost to people who wanted to stop smoking and improve their health.

New York Avenue Metro Station Corporation (Washington, DC)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Transportation, Urban

Goal: The key objective of the initiative was to promote sustainable, transit-oriented, mixed-use economic and community development that would promote investment, create jobs, attract and expand businesses, raise incomes, reduce poverty, stabilize and improve housing and neighbourhoods. The main strategy was to develop three key industry networks: media/publications, information technology/telecommunications and the entertainment industry in the NoMa area.

Community Coalition: Crime Reduction Through Closing Liquor Stores in South Los Angeles (South Los Angeles)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Prevention & Safety, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: To reduce alcohol and drug related crime and violence in South Los Angeles by closing liquor stores known to be involved in or at the center of crime, violence and illegal activity.

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.