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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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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Note: This practice has been Archived.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.

Green Affordable Housing Coalition (San Francisco, CA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability

Goal: The goal of the Green Affordable Housing Coalition is to produce economic and quality of life benefits for tenants and generate economic and environmental benefits by incorporating green building practices in the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of affordable housing.

Healthy Employee Lifestyle Program (HELP) (Little Rock, AR)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Healthy Employee Lifestyle Program is to increase healthy behaviors such as eating fruits and vegetables and engaging in regular exercise.

Healthy Hoops (USA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: Healthy Hoops uses a holistic approach to not only enhance disease management and health outcomes, but also improve quality of life, helping children live healthy and happier lives.

Improved Childhood Blood Lead Screening in Rhode Island (Rhode Island)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The main objective of this program is to enhance blood lead screening rates of children who are enrolled in all major managed care plans in Rhode Island.

In2Books (Virtual Program)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Literacy, Children

Goal: The goal of In2Books is to promote reading, writing, and critical thinking skills in students grades three through five through partnership with a pen pal, and provide teachers with a structured curriculum designed to enhance their students' learning experiences.

Intimate Partner Violence Intervention

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Domestic Violence & Abuse, Women

Goal: The goal of this clinic-based and counseling intervention is to reduce Intimate Partner Violence by encouraging behaviors that promote safety for women.

Kentucky Adolescent Tobacco Prevention Project (Lexington, KY)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Teens, Rural

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent tobacco use among middle school students who live in tobacco-producing areas.

Low Literacy Intervention to Promote Discussion of Prostate Cancer (Atlanta, GA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: To educate men over the age of 45 about prostate cancer and to increase prostate cancer screening in order to reduce the incidence of prostate cancer.

Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing (Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New Y)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Children, Teens, Adults, Rural

Goal: The goal of MTO was to impact behavior and lifestyle choices by changing neighborhood environments.

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.