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 Evidence-Based Practice, Economy, Rural
Medical-legal partnerships perform advocacy services for vulnerable and under-served populations. These populations are typically burdened disproportionately by legal and medical problems. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness and sustainability of a rural medical-legal partnership (MLP).
The rural medical-legal partnership continued to show social and financial impacts, such as health care recovery dollars (319% return on investment between 2007 and 2009), Social Security benefits, family law services, and end-of-life guidance.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens, Adults
The goal of the program is to make a positive difference in the lives of children, primarily through professionally guided one-to-one relationships with caring adults, and to assist them in achieving their highest potential, as they grow to become confident, competent and caring individuals.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Intervention Data, Urban
The goal of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a social work intervention aimed to address the medical and social needs of inpatient super-utilizers.
This intervention was modeled after the "Bridge Model" by intensifying patient engagement with an average of 40 patient contacts over 6 months following an index admission. This intervention has the potential to reduce health services utilization and cost among inpatient super utilizers.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Diabetes, Children, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The objectives of Bienestar are to decrease dietary saturated fat intake, increase dietary fiber intake, and increase physical activity among low-income Mexican-American elementary and middle school children.
The Bienestar Health Program statistically significantly increases fitness scores and dietary fiber intakes levels among low-income, Mexican-American fourth-graders. A second randomized control trial conducted from 6th to 8th grade showed reductions in various indexes of adiposity.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Women
The Body Project is a dissonance intervention designed to help women in high school and college resist societal and cultural pressures to conform to an idealized notion of what it means to be 'thin' and to help increase body acceptance. A reduction in thin-ideal internalization should result in reduced use of unhealthy weight-control behaviors, decreased eating disorder symptoms, and overall increase in mood and well-being.
The Body Project program has yielded numerous significant benefits at posttest and 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years after program implementation. These include significant reductions in body dissatisfaction, bulimic symptoms and psychosocial impairment compared to control group participants.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults
BRI Care Consultation is an intervention for adults with a chronic physical or mental health condition or disability and a primary caregiver (family member or friend) who assists the adult with daily activities, tasks, and healthrelated discussions.
CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Health Communication & Social Marketing: Health Communication Campaigns That Include Mass Media & Health-Related Product Distribution (USA)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle, Adults
CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Reducing Tobacco Use Initiation: Mass Media Campaigns When Combined with Other Interventions (USA)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Adults
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
The goal of Choosing Healthy and Rewarding Meals (CHARM) School Program is to promote healthy eating habits and teach life skills.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Families
The goal of this program is to provide information about mood disorders to parents, equip parents with skills they need to communicate this information to their children, and open dialogue in families about the effects of parental depression.
Parents in the program scored better in their reports of child-related behavior and attitude changes of parental illness than parents who received a group-format presentation. Children in the program scored higher on measures of improved understanding of parental mood disorder than children who received a group-format lecture.