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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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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Note: This practice has been Archived.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.

AIDS Prevention for Adolescents in Schools (New York City, NY)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of AIDS Prevention for Adolescents in Schools was to use a teacher-delivered curriculum to improve knowledge and beliefs about AIDS, and develop self-efficacy related to AIDS-preventive actions among students.

Communal Effectance - AIDS Prevention

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Adults, Women, Urban

Goal: The goal of the CE-AP intervention is to reduce behaviors that put women at risk for sexually transmitted disease (STD) and HIV transmission.

Communicare - a Statewide Volunteer Network of Care Providers (South Carolina)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality

Goal: Communicare strives to help patients maintain and improve their health. Through regular doctor's visits and improved medication adherence, patients actively participate in preventive care. Another goal is to reduce the dependence on emergency departments through a free clinic partnership.

Flex Your Power Case Study: Transwestern Commercial Services (USA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability

Goal: The goals of Transwestern's energy audits are to save energy and money and to contribute to saving the environment and assuring reliable energy in the local communities in which it operates.

Focus on the Future (Kentucky)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of Focus on the Future is to reduce STD reinfections among young African American heterosexual males through correct and consistent condom use.

Hawaii Child Asthma Research to Elevate Standards (Hawaii CARES) (Honolulu, HI)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of Hawaii CARES is to bring the way asthma is treated in the state up to compliance with national guidelines.

Montana Diabetes Prevention and Control Program (DPCP) (Montana)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Children, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this project is to monitor trends in diabetes among Montana's American Indian youth, to evaluate the effectiveness of their diabetes prevention activities, and to identify opportunities to improve care for their patients with diabetes.

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.

National Partnership for Environmental Priorities (NPEP) (USA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The goal of the program is to encourage, through recognition, networking, and case example distribution, the minimization of hazardous and industrial wastes, particularly those waste streams containing one or more of the 31 priority chemicals. Under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), EPA has established a goal of reducing the amount of Priority Chemicals reported to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) by ten percent by 2008, using the year 2001 as a baseline.

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.