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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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Healthy Kids Clinic (Fayette County, KY)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Children

Goal: The goal of the Healthy Kids Clinics is to provide access to free health care to children in high-poverty schools in Fayette County.

Promoting Youth Volunteerism with a Multi-District Council (Boyd County, KY)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Civic Engagement, Children

Goal: The goal was for school administrators to coordinate efforts across districts for students to learn about volunteer opportunities and to become youth volunteers, as well as to teach character education and the merits of volunteerism in the elementary schools.

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Note: This practice has been Archived.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.

Coalition to Reduce HIV in Broward County (Broward County, FL)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Coalition to Reduce HIV in Broward County is to eliminate disparities in HIV disease in Broward County.

Impact: Disparities in new diagnoses of HIV among Hispanic residents of Broward County were eliminated and cut in half among non-Hispanic residents.

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Note: This practice has been Archived.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.

Kentucky Adolescent Tobacco Prevention Project (Lexington, KY)

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.

King County (KC) Kids Oral Health Program (King County, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children, Urban

Goal: The goal of the KC Kids Oral Health Program was to provide no-cost dental services to children who lived between 250% and 300% of the Federal Poverty Level.

King County Children's Health Initiative (King County, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of the Children's Health Initiative is to provide children with consistent access to health care services.

DLM Early Childhood Express/Imagine It! (Palm Beach)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Urban

Goal: To improve the school readiness of children in Palm Beach County.

The Abuela Project (Yakima County, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Food Safety, Children, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The goal of the Abuela Project is to reduce the number of cases of salmonellosis caused by Salmonella Typhimurium due to consumption of queso fresco made from raw-milk in Yakima County, Washington.

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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