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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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Insights (Washington and North Carolina)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Women's Health, Women

Goal: The goal of Insights is to increase condom use among young women at risk for HIV and other STDs.

Impact: Insights proves that tailored cognitive/behavioral minimal self-help interventions hold promise as HIV/STD prevention strategies for diverse populations of young at-risk women.

Integration of Family Planning Services at Denver Metro Health Clinic (Denver, CO)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Family Planning, Women

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide reproductive health care services to women and men in the Denver STD clinic.

Impact: Enrollment in family planning services increased significantly. Among women returning within 12 months, pregnancies were lower among enrolled versus non-enrolled women. Total additional cost was $29.95/visit, and 40.1 minutes of additional staff time.

iWalk (Sonoma)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Adults, Families

Goal: The goal of iWalk is to encourage and support regular walking and exercise among Sonoma county residents.

Janice Mirikitani Family, Youth and Childcare Center (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Children, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: The Janice Mirikitani Family, Youth and Childcare Center provides award winning childcare, after-school programs, and parenting resources to low-income and homeless families.

Kansas Assistance Network, LLC

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: To improve the lives of Wyandotte and Johnson County families by aiding with health insurance and assistance program applications while providing health literacy education to increase appropriate use of services to narrow the gaps between service providers.

Kids N Fitness: A Family-Centered Lifestyle Intervention for Overweight Youth (Los Angeles, CA)

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

Goal: Given the increased prevalence among youth of obesity and Type II Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in the last 25 years, the goal of Kids N Fitness is to reduce risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome in overweight youth through a family-oriented lifestyle intervention.

Impact: These positive health outcomes indicate that a family-centered lifestyle intervention can improve metabolic health among youth.

La Posada Hotel (Winslow, Arizona)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Economic Climate

Goal: The goal of the restoration of La Posada Hotel was to preserve and restore the hotel as a historic landmark, and to reinvigorate the economy of Winslow, Arizona.

Let’s Move! (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Families

Goal: Let’s Move! is dedicated to solving the problem of obesity within a generation so that kids born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams.

Linking the Interests of Families and Teachers (LIFT) (Eugene, OR)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Urban

Goal: Linking the Interests of Families and Teachers (LIFT) is a research intervention program designed to prevent the development of aggressive and antisocial behavior.

Impact: Evidence suggests that LIFT can be a useful tool for promoting effective parenting in the home and decreasing aggressive behaviors with peers at school and on the playground. LIFT participants exhibited a decrease in child physical aggression toward classmates on the playground, an increase in teachers' positive impressions of child social skills with classmates, and a decrease in parents' aversive behavior during family problem-solving discussions.

Lions Quest Skills for Adolescence

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

Goal: The goal of the Lions Quest program is to promote healthy, safe, and drug-free behaviors in youth.

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.