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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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AirNow (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Air

Goal: The goal of this website is to provide information on air quality including potential health effects of air pollutants.

Alaska’s Tobacco Quit Line (Alaska)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Adults

Goal: The goal of Alaska’s Tobacco Quit Line is to help Alaska residents quit smoking or using smokeless tobacco.

Aspiritech (Chicago, IL)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Employment, Adults

Goal: Aspiritech's mission is to provide a path for high-functioning individuals on the autism spectrum to realize their potential through meaningful employment.

Backyard Gardens (West Oakland, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The Backyard Garden Program builds food self-sufficiency by empowering low-income households to grow fresh produce where they live.

Bank on Oakland (Oakland, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Investment & Personal Finance, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Bank on Oakland is to help low-income families gain access to mainstream financial services.

Banking on Our Future: Financial Literacy Education for Youth

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Investment & Personal Finance, Children

Goal: The mission of the Banking on Our Future (BOOF) program is to execute a global delivery system for financial education for youth ages 9-18 at no cost to school districts, with a focus on urban, under-served communities.

Bard Prison Initiative (New York)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the Bard Prison Initiative is to prevent reincarceration by providing higher-education to prison populations.

Bullying Prevention Program (South Carolina)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce bullying in schools.

Burlington Legacy Project (Burlington, VT)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Economic Climate

Goal: The goal of this program is to create a strategy for a sustainable Burlington.

Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (Chicago, IL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Public Safety, Urban

Goal: The goal of this strategy is to improve the effectiveness of policing in Chicago.

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.