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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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New Communities Program (Chicago, IL)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Children, Teens, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of the New Communities Program is to strengthen communities from within through planning, organizing, and human development.

New Moms Network (Brattleboro, Vermont)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Children, Adults, Women, Rural

Goal: The goal of the New Moms Network is to provide a helpful and supportive environment for new parents.

Nonpoint Source Pollution Partnership (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The goal of this program is to maintain and restore water quality in the face of threats and impairments caused by nonpoint source pollution.

Nurturing Father's Program (NFP)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Men, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the Nurturing Fathers Program is to teach men parenting and nurturing skills.

Impact: Thousands of fathers have benefited from the Nurturing Fathers Program. The program has been successfully implemented by non-profit organizations as well as federal, state, and municipal government entities.

Nutrition Education for Families with Financial Problems (The Netherlands)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Families

Goal: To increase dietary variety, decrease the intake of saturated fat and increase the intake of vegetables during the main meal among families with financial problems.

Oakland Victim–Offender Reconciliation Program (Oakland, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to foster dialog, negotiation, and problem solving between offenders and victims in Oakland.

One City One Book: San Francisco Reads (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Literacy, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of One City One Book: San Francisco Reads is to encourage enjoyment of reading, literacy, and community by having San Franciscans read and discuss the same book at the same time.

PedFlag (Kirkland, WA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Public Safety, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: The purpose of PedFlag is to reduce the number of pedestrian injuries and deaths by increasing the visibility of pedestrians to cars.

Pennsylvania's Task Force for Working Families (Pennsylvania)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Investment & Personal Finance

Goal: The purpose of the Task Force was to:

1. identify and explore current and proposed strategies for
- building incomes and assets for working families;
- promoting financial education and literacy; and
- protecting working families from predatory and abusive financial services;

2. maximize the coordination of programs that affect working families and create an environment in which they can work together with greater effectiveness and impact;

3. work with charitable foundations, local government agencies, advocacy groups, community and religious leaders, academia, policy and research organizations, and other entities as may be appropriate, to carry out the purpose of the Task Force.

plaNYC (New York)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Urban

Goal: The goal of plaNCY is to ensure a higher quality of life for New Yorkers, and reduce the city's greenhouse gas emissions by 30%.

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.