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.
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens
Goal: The goal of this program is to enhance the resiliency of children in order to promote positive development and prevent them from engaging in high-risk behaviors such as substance use, early sexual activity, or violence.
Impact: Studies of the program showed that participants' reactions to situations involving drug use and their attitudes toward school, the future, and elders were significantly better than those without the intervention. Students in the program also had fewer days absent from school than nonparticipants.
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families, Urban
Goal: The goals of the project were to assess the feasibility of the Asthma Outreach Worker model and evaluate any impact on unscheduled health service use for asthma.
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural
Goal: The goal of the Building Community Support for American Indian People with Diabetes project was to improve the health outcomes of American Indians with diabetes.
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Families
Goal: The goal of this program is to change the child protection field by demonstrating a new approach to safeguarding children and supporting families. Based on the premise that many people, agencies, and organizations in a community can contribute to children's safety, the initiative addresses child abuse and neglect by raising neighborhood awareness of child safety issues, empowering neighborhood residents to become more involved with families at risk of abusing or neglecting their children, strengthening locally based organizations and helping them form networks concerned with child safety, and fostering policy, practice, and organizational changes within public sector child protective services agencies. This approach is known as community child protection.
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Urban
Goal: By providing programs for students and adults in the areas of literacy, the visual and performing arts, and service learning, NSCC's goals include improving students' performance in school and encouraging parents to become more involved.
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Adults
Goal: The goal of the Explore study is to prevent HIV infection among HIV-negative men who have sex with men.
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children
Goal: The main objective of Growing Healthy is to give students the tools to resist the social pressures to smoke, use alcohol or other drugs, and engage in other risky behavior.
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.
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.
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens
Goal: The goal of KYB is to teach students the necessary knowledge, attitudes, skills, and experience to practice positive health behaviors and reduce their risk of future illness.
Impact: Studies suggest that the program had a favorable impact on many risk factors, such as systolic and diastolic pressures, HDL cholesterol, ratio of total to HDL cholesterol, fitness (postexercise pulse recovery rate), and smoking.