Skip to main content

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.

Submit a Promising Practice

Search Filters Clear all
(805 results)

Ranking
Featured
Primary Target Audience
Topics and Subtopics
Geographic Type

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: Spark's mission is to provide life-changing apprenticeships to youth in underserved communities across the United States.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Older Adults

Goal: Stepping On aims to reduce the prevalence of falls among older adults. Falls are not a normal part of aging and the risk and/or prevalence of falls may be decreased by taking certain steps, including vision checks, medication management, strength & balance exercises, and home safety checks. Falls and/or the fear of falling often lead to a loss of independence.

Impact: This evidence-based program demonstrated a 31% reduction in falls among participants in an Australian trial. It reached a 50% reduction in falls among participants in a U.S. workshop.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Social Environment, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The program aims to reduce substance abuse risk factors and improve relationships in high-risk families.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults

Goal: StrongPeople Strong Bodies is a community-based strength training program aimed at mid-life and older individuals. The benefits of strength training for older individuals have been studied extensively and include increased muscle mass and strength; improved bone density and reduced risk for osteoporosis and related fractures; reduced risk for diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, depression, and obesity; and improved self-confidence, sleep, and vitality.

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

Goal: The goal of STRIVE is to reduce risky injection practices among injection drug users with an HCV infection.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Teen Health Project is to provide adolescents with the skills necessary to prevent HIV risk behaviors.

Impact: The Teen Health Project shows that community-level interventions that include skills training and engage adolescents in neighborhood-based HIV prevention activities can produce and maintain reductions in sexual risk behavior, including delaying sexual debut and increasing condom use.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens

Goal: The program aims to develop healthy behaviors, life skills, and a sense of purpose in order to prevent problem behaviors.

Impact: Studies have shown that adolescents in the Teen Outreach Program are at 52% lower risk of school suspension, 60% lower risk of course failure, and 53% lower risk of teenage pregnancy.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Men, Urban

Goal: The goal of this intervention is to reduce high-risk behavior among African American youth as measured by student self-reports of violence, provocative behavior, school delinquency, substance use, and sexual behaviors (intercourse and condom use).

Impact: AAYP reduced rates of risky behaviors among male African American youth.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Cancer

Goal: The goal of this program is to understand and address cancer in a more effective way.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Diabetes, Children, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The primary goal of the intervention was to reduce overweight and obesity prevalence among middle school students. Ancillary goals were to improve BMI and fasting insulin values, increase water consumption, reduce consumption of beverages with added sugar, increase healthy food choices, improve self-monitoring, and increase exercise time among sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students.

Impact: School-based programs that aim to address childhood obesity and adiposity may reduce individuals' risk of developing childhood-onset of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

Santa Cruz