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 Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment
The mission of the program is to work vigorously to free participants from the burden of welfare dependency, and achieve a better, happier lifestyle through self-sufficiency. It will serve the taxpayers of Riverside County by reducing welfare dependency, thus making tax dollars available for other expenditures and needs.
The program produced a large net savings to the government through increased tax revenues and reduced welfare and food stamps payments (as an estimate, $2.84 saved for every $1.00 invested over five years).
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Civic Engagement, Teens, Urban
The group’s mission is to improve the leadership skills of Denver’s youth while supporting and improving the community.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Air
To slow climate change by reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere while also establishing a network of public spaces where residents can walk to enjoy a vibrant urban landscape and healthy ecosystem.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Adults
To reduce weight in overweight and obese patients using mobile-based text and multimedia messaging.
At the end of a 4-month period, participants in the text-message based intervention showed greater weight loss than the control group.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults
The goal of this promising practice is to increase physical activity in a diverse older adult population.
Participants in the Active Choices program showed significant increases in physical activity and a greater satisfaction with their body appearance and function. Participants of the program also showed decreases in their BMI.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Women, Men, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
The goal of the Baltimore Needle Exchange Program is to reduce HIV, hepatitis, and other infections by reducing the use of unclean needles and to help individuals overcome substance abuse by connecting them to harm reduction services and drug treatment programs. The experimental case manager intervention program at the Baltimore NEP looked to increase the percentage of intravenous drug users who enrolled in city sponsored substance abuse programs following referral at the Baltimore NEP sites.
The intervention program through Baltimore NEP was effective in increasing entry of intravenous drug users into drug drug treatment programs and highlights the need for more accessible treatment programs and harm-reduction services, such as mobile treatment facilities.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use
The goal of Behavioral Couples Therapy for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse is to improve success rates for treatment of alcoholism and drug abuse by involving intimate partners in the treatment process.
Numerous studies of the program have shown positive outcomes in five areas: substance abuse, quality of relationship with partner, treatment compliance, intimate partner violence, and children's psychosocial functioning. BCT clients also reported more relationship satisfaction than non-participants.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children
The goal of this program is to improve the educational performance of economically disadvantaged adolescents.
After 30 months, program youths reported significantly greater enjoyment and engagement in reading, verbal skills, writing, and tutoring. They also had better overall averages in reading, spelling, history, science, social studies, and school attendance compared with comparison and control youths.
Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Economic Climate
The goal of this program is to create a strategy for a sustainable Burlington.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / School Environment, Children
The goal of the Caring School Community program is to build classroom and school communities in order to support learning, academic success, positive relationships and character formation.
After 3 years, CSC students, relative to their comparison school counterparts, showed a greater sense of the school as a caring community, more fondness for school, stronger academic motivation, more frequent reading of books outside of school, a higher sense of efficacy, stronger commitment to democratic values, better conflict-resolution skills, more concern for others, more frequent altruistic behavior, and less use of alcohol.