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.

Submit a Promising Practice

TeenRehabCenter.org

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

Goal: The goal of TeenRehabCenter.org is to give parents the tools they need to be able to talk to their children and teens about drugs and alcohol. By providing these resources, it hopes to prevent more teens and young adults from substance abuse. It also aims to help those who are already struggling by furnishing recovery information that is tailored both for parents and for teens.

Impact: Time spent in treatment is forward progress, since the individual is removed from substance use and negative peer and environmental influences. At least half of teens who graduate from rehab will enjoy an extended period of sobriety. How they follow-up after rehab is over can play a massive role in how strong and stable these healthy habits become.

The Arkansas Wellness Coalition (AWC) (Arkansas)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle, Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The Coalition's purpose is to improve the health and well-being of all Arkansans through the implementation of nationally recognized peer-reviewed guidelines for physicians and patient self-management.

The Diabetes Collaborative (Chicago)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The Diabetes Collaborative is a comprehensive, sustainable and evidence-based model of care developed to combat the health problems associated with diabetes.

The HOV System: Guide to High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes (Harris County, Texas)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation, Urban

Goal: The goal of METRO's HOV lane network is to reduce traffic congestion and promote ridesharing and the use of public transportation.

Westside Infant-Family Network (Los Angeles County)

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

Goal: Westside Infant-Family Network’s mission is to ensure that families with prenatal through three-year-olds receive the mental health care and community resources they need to strengthen their families and achieve healthy parent-child relationships.

Youth with Disabilities Demonstration Project (Seattle, WA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment

Goal: The overall objective of the project was to identify and provide additional support and services to those youth, ages 14-21 enrolled in WIA-supported youth programs with mental health care needs.

Cancer Screening Office Systems (Cancer SOS) (Hillsborough County, FL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the Cancer SOS provider education program is to increase cancer screening in primary care settings serving disadvantaged populations.

CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Cancer Prevention & Control, Provider-Oriented Screening Interventions: Provider Assessment & Feedback (USA)

CDC

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults

Goal: To promote screening of breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers in community and healthcare settings.

Impact: Provider assessment and feedback can improve the delivery of recommended cancer screenings in relationship to other elements of the specific health care system.

Fit Kids/Fit Families (Wisconsin)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children

Goal: To improve children's nutritional status, increase their activity level, enhance their self-esteem, and create life-long health habits by using a multidisciplinary, community- and family-based system approach, and by engaging local health care professionals with community agencies.

Impact: The Fit Kids/Fit Families program shows that multidisciplinary, community- and family-based approaches to children's exercise, weight, & nutrition can have an effect on healthier nutritional choices, increased physical activity, decreased sedentary activity, healthier behaviors, and BMI reductions.

Home Again: A Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness in Portland and Multnomah County (Portland and Multnomah County, OR)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to end homelessness in the City of Portland and Multnomah County by 2015. As efforts to end homelessness continue, city and county officials will focus on nine actions. Programs throughout the county will address moving people into Housing First, ending the practice of discharging people into homelessness from jails and hospitals, improving outreach, emphasizing permanent solutions, increasing the housing supply, creating new partnerships, improving the rent assistance system, increasing economic opportunity for homeless people and implementing new data collection technology.

An Effective Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

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.
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:

The program description includes: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program funding source, program implementation steps and outcomes.
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:

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.
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.
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.