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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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Project Making a Group and Individual Difference (MAGIC) (Elko, NV)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens, Rural

Goal: The goal of Project MAGIC is to help juvenile offenders leave the criminal justice system.

Project SHINE

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Civic Engagement, Teens, Older Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Project SHINE is to build strong, healthy, and sustainable communities by fostering positive growth and relationships among its participants.

Promotores de la Salud de los Niños (King County, WA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Children, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Promotores de la Salud de los Niños Program is to use volunteers from the Latino community to locate families in King County that are eligible for services and help families get connected to those services.

Quality Improvement Project to Improve the Immunization Rate in the Women, Infant, and Children Program (Reno County, KS)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to increase the immunization rate of WIC children.

Impact: The WIC immunization rate for 2 year olds increased from 33% in the 3rd quarter of 2011 to 83% in the 4th quarter of 2012. The no-show rate for WIC appointments decreased from 68% to 27.6%.

Re/Storing Nashville (Davidson)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: Re/Storing Nashville seeks to end hunger through creating a healthy, just and sustainable food system.

REACH for Wellness (Fulton County, GA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve cardiovascular health among residents of the Atlanta Empowerment Zone (AEZ).

Reading Partners (Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children, Urban

Goal: Reading Partners mission is to help children become lifelong readers by empowering communities to provide individualized instruction with measurable results.

Reading Recovery

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to help children who are having difficulty learning to read and write.

Repeat Offender Prevention Program (Orange County, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of the program is to prevent young offenders from becoming chronic delinquents.

ReWired for Change (Baltimore, MD)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: ReWired for Change works to empower at risk youth and families living in under-served communities through education, media and social advocacy, and intergenerational programming.

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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