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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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Oakland Pedestrian Safety Project: Walk Oakland! (Oakland, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Public Safety, Children, Adults, Families

Goal: To prevent pedestrian deaths and injuries in Oakland, California.

Oral Health Equity Project (Boston, MA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Oral Health, Older Adults

Goal: The mission of the Oral Health Equity Project (OHEP) is to increase access to preventative services and dental care for economically disadvantaged elders living in Boston's public housing. The specific goal of the three-year project is to provide oral health screening to 1000 low-income elders.

PACE+: Counseling Adolescents for Exercise and Nutrition (California)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Families

Goal: The goal of PACE+ for adolescents is to: decrease total dietary fat consumption; increase fruits & vegetable consumption; increase participation in moderate and vigorous physical activity; decrease sedentary habits among adolescents aged 11-15.

Palcare (Burlingame, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment, Children, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide flexible, nurturing education and child care for working families.

Partners in Healing (Merced County, CA)

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

Goal: The goal of the Partners in Healing Program is to improve health care and access to health services among Hmong refugees.

Partnership for Permanent Housing (Montgomery County, MD)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Housing & Homes

Goal: The goal of this program is to end homelessness for families by combining the case management component of transitional programs with quicker access to permanent housing.

PeaceBuilders (Pima County, AZ)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / School Environment, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce youth violence and aggressive behavior by initiating prevention early in childhood, increasing children's resilience, and reinforcing positive behaviors.

Impact: One evaluation found that there was an 89% decrease in physical aggression and an 82% decrease in verbal aggression for participating students.

Peacekeepers (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Urban

Goal: The goal of Peacekeepers is to prevent violence among youth in the Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco.

Per Scholas Employment

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Educational Attainment, Adults

Goal: The Per Scholas mission is to not only open doors to technology careers, but to build the foundation for future sustainability and growth for our communities.

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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