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.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders
Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends depression care management in primary care clinics for older adults with major depression or chronic low levels of depression (dysthymia) on the basis of sufficient evidence of effectiveness in improving short-term depression outcomes.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Teens, Adults, Urban
Goal: The goals of the Mental Health First Aid course are to: 1) learn to identify risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, 2) utilize evidence-based strategies to help someone in both crisis and non-crisis situations, and 3) become a resource in your community to guide people where to turn for help.
NAMI-DuPage's yearly goal is to complete 70 training courses per year.
Impact: Mental Health First Aid helps community members become aware of signs and symptoms of someone in a mental health crisis and become a resource to mental health and behavioral health programs in their community.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Urban
Goal: The overriding goal of the workgroup is to develop, institute and evaluate preventive measures (e.g. procedures, protocols and policies) that would mitigate the impact of any future waterborne disease incidents. Post 9/11, the workgroup has evolved to include discussions on water security in the context of an intentional contamination event.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality
Goal: The goal of this study is to examine NEMT’s return on investment and expand research on its financial benefit.
Impact: The findings suggest that NEMT more than pays for itself as part of a care management strategy for people with chronic diseases, resulting in a total positive return on investment of over $40 million per month ($480 million annually) per 30,000 Medicaid beneficiaries.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Weight Status
Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends multicomponent interventions to increase availability of healthier foods and beverages in schools. This finding is based on evidence that they reduce or maintain the rate of obesity or overweight.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Nutrition & Healthy Eating
Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends multicomponent interventions to increase availability of healthier foods and beverages in schools. This finding is based on evidence that they reduce or maintain the rate of obesity or overweight.
Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Government Assistance, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The goal of this program is to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services for the residents of Hennepin County.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Oral Health, Older Adults
Goal: The mission of the Oral Health Equity Project (OHEP) is to increase access to preventative services and dental care for economically disadvantaged elders living in Boston's public housing. The specific goal of the three-year project is to provide oral health screening to 1000 low-income elders.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Urban
Goal: The goal of Parent Connext is to support parents in reducing and/or preventing toxic stress in the family and help children develop critical life skills and coping skills. Recent studies have found that up to 50% of health outcomes are attributable to social and economic factors and that lifetime costs associated with child maltreatment are comparable to other costly healthcare conditions such as stroke or type 2 diabetes. Moreover, 4 in 5 physicians report lacking confidence in their ability to meet patients’ social needs, which can impede their ability to provide high quality medical care. As a result, interventions that target parents’ social needs may have important implications for reducing healthcare costs and have the added benefit of enabling physicians to provide high-quality care to their patients.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Adults, Women, Men, Families, Urban
Goal: Parenting education programs are designed to teach and enhance skills and behaviors that enable parents to better understand their child, support their development, and provide a more stable and supportive family environment. Research supports the numerous benefits of such programs, finding that parenting education programs help parents to teach communication and social skills while reducing their stress and improving their sense of competence. Importantly, these positive program outcomes are true for families regardless of whether they are currently dealing with issues of maltreatment or are simply at risk for it.
The Parent Enrichment Program is for families who are at risk for having their children removed from the home or whose children have been removed from the home due to abuse or neglect. The goal of the program is to enhance existing parenting skills, connect participants to needed resources, and support their goals related to social and economic self-sufficiency. Specific program objectives are to improve skills related to positive parenting and financial stability, develop family protective factors that guard against abuse and neglect, and reduce safety threats.
References:
Charlop-Christy, M. H., & Carpenter, M. H. (2000). Modified incidental teaching sessions: A procedure for parents to increase spontaneous speech in their children with autism. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 2, 98–112.
Solomon, R., Necheles, J., Ferch, C., & Bruckman, D. (2007). Pilot study of a parent training program for young children with autism: The PLAY Project Home Consultation program. Autism, 11, 205–224.
Koegel, R. L., Bimbela, A., & Schreibman, L. (1996). Collateral effects of parent training on family interactions. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26, 347–359.
Cowen, P. S. (2001). Effectiveness of a parent education intervention for at‐risk families. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 6(2), 73-82.