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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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Kansas City Gun Experiment (Kansas City, MO)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program was to reduce gun crime in Kansas City.

Maternal and Child Behavioral Health Pilot Project (King County, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Women, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Maternal and Child Behavioral Health Pilot Project is to prevent and treat common mental health disorders in low-income pregnant women, mothers, and their children.

Project DIRECT (Diabetes Interventions Reaching and Educating Communities Together) (Raleigh, NC)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of Project DIRECT is to improve diabetes prevention and care among African Americans in Raleigh, NC.

Promoting Adult Health and Development with an Intergenerational Program (College Park, MD)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of AHDP is to encourage health promotion by using a strategy primarily directed at postponement of chronic illness and improvement of vitality through increased physical, psychological and social activity.

Public Health and Mental Health: A Model for Success (Jefferson County, CO)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders

Goal: The goals of this program are:

-To provide staff with consultation, clinical support, education and training.
-To provide clients with initial assessment, brief counseling, and access/referral to mental health resources.

Sistering, Informing, Healing, Living, and Empowering (Birmingham, AL)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Family Planning, Teens, Women

Goal: The SiHLE intervention aims to reduce sexual risk behaviors among sexually experienced African American adolescents.

The Bricklayers and Laborers Nonprofit Housing Corp (Boston, MA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes

Goal: The goal of this program is to create affordable housing targeted for low- and moderate-income first-time home buyers in downtown Boston.

The Stanford Five-City Project (California)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke

Goal: The goal of this project was to improve cardiovascular health of two California communities.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Breast and Cervical Cancer Coalition (Birmingham, AL)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Cancer, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce disparities in breast and cervical cancer screening and outcomes between African American and white women through the use of community advisors.

Flex Your Power Case Study: San Bernardino County (San Bernardino County)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability

Goal: San Bernardino County’s goal in 2001 was to reduce its energy use by 10 percent.

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.
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