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.

Submit a Promising Practice

Project CAFE (Los Angeles)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Project CAFE is to identify ways to increase access and availability of healthy foods in Los Angeles neighborhoods in order to decrease obesity and diabetes.

Santa Barbara Car Free Project (Santa Barbara)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Transportation, Children, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: The project's mission is to encourage car free, carefree travel to and around Santa Barbara for cleaner air and a healthier planet.

The Green House Project (USA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The mission of the Green House Project is to partner with organizations, advocates, and communities to lead the transformation of institutional long-term care by creating viable homes where elders and others enjoy excellent quality of life and quality of care.

Impact: Studies showed that Green House homes are likely to reduce hospitalization rates among residents, and Medicare and Medicaid costs per resident, when compared to residents in traditional nursing homes. Also, nurses are more likely to spend more hours in Green House homes.

The Guided Care Model

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

Goal: The Guided Care Model aims to better health outcomes and reduce spending for aging adults with multiple chronic conditions.

Impact: The Guided Care Model has been shown to improve quality of care and reduce the use of home health care.

The Healthy Lifestyles Initiative (Greater Kansas City, MO)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle, Children, Families

Goal: The Healthy Lifestyles Initiative works to integrate efforts to increase the proportion of Kansas City children and their families practicing healthy behaviors at a healthy weight.

Impact: Collaboration among multiple agencies across public and private sectors resulted in reaching almost 1 million people in the Kansas City area. Healthy weight assessments and plans received at primary care clinics are helping to promote healthy eating and living among children and their families.

Transitional Respite Care for the Homeless Program (Spokane, WA)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Women, Men

Goal: The respite program's goal is to stop the revolving door of emergency department treatment by providing a supervised facility with a level of care from an on-site nurse similar to what a patient might receive from an attentive family member.

Impact: The program has been able to provide better care for a vulnerable population and reduce overall cost of care by lowering the number of ambulance calls, emergency department visits, and inpatient stays.

Transportation Solutions for Caregivers (TSC) (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Transportation, Older Adults

Goal: The purpose of Transportation Solutions for Caregivers: A Solutions Package for Volunteer Transportation Programs, is to provide some guidance and basic information to existing volunteer programs as well as those planning to start new ones. Through such programs, Easter Seals aspires to help communities meet the transportation needs and preference of older adults and their caregivers who reside therein and maintain a mobile older population.

Vaccination Programs: Requirements for Child Care, School, and College Attendance

CDC

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases

Wheels that Care (Kansas City, MO)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Transportation, Adults, Older Adults

Goal: Shepherd's Center Central is a local leader in the regional effort to ensure that all people can age successfully with dignity, security, and respect.

Impact: The Wheels that Care program helped 77 older adults attend their necessary appointments and maintain their independence through 1,550 hours of travel time to and from participants' homes and their appointments.

Worcester Goods for Guns Buyback (G4G) Program (Worcester, MA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Public Safety, Children, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: The goals of this program are three-fold: first, to remove unwanted improperly stored guns from homes; second, to educate the community about the increased risk of gun-related injuries in the home and the importance of safe gun storage; and third, to identify individuals possessing improperly stored guns at home and provide them with safety information and alternatives.

Impact: This program shows a strong collaboration between health care providers and public safety offices and showcases a low-cost means of removing unwanted firearms from the community. Additionally, most participants felt their homes were safer after turning in their firearm(s).

An Effective Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

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.
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:

The program description includes: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program funding source, program implementation steps and outcomes.
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:

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.
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.
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.