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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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Note: This practice has been Archived.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.

5-A-Day Power Plus (St. Paul, MN)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children

Goal: To increase fruit and vegetable consumption among children using a multi-component approach.

Charlotte REACH 2010 (Charlotte, North Carolina)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Diabetes, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: To improve three health behaviors that are risk factors for diabetes and heart disease (fruit & vegetable consumption, physical activity, and cigarette smoking) in an African American community.

Engaging Parents and Adults in Educational Activities at School (Princeton, NJ; Philadelphia, PA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Urban

Goal: By providing programs for students and adults in the areas of literacy, the visual and performing arts, and service learning, NSCC's goals include improving students' performance in school and encouraging parents to become more involved.

Let's Beat Diabetes (LBD) (South Auckland, New Zealand)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Diabetes, Urban

Goal: The goal of Let's Beat Diabetes is to prevent new and manage existing cases of Type II Diabetes.

Mailed Brochure for Colorectal Screening (Denver, CO)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of this mailing is to increase colorectal cancer screening completion rates.

Impact: Colonoscopy screening adherence rates in the intervention group of the trial were higher than the rates in the control group.

New York Avenue Metro Station Corporation (Washington, DC)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Transportation, Urban

Goal: The key objective of the initiative was to promote sustainable, transit-oriented, mixed-use economic and community development that would promote investment, create jobs, attract and expand businesses, raise incomes, reduce poverty, stabilize and improve housing and neighbourhoods. The main strategy was to develop three key industry networks: media/publications, information technology/telecommunications and the entertainment industry in the NoMa area.

Sistering, Informing, Healing, Living, and Empowering (Birmingham, AL)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Family Planning, Teens, Women

Goal: The SiHLE intervention aims to reduce sexual risk behaviors among sexually experienced African American adolescents.

Strengthening the Bonds of Chicano Youth and Families (Eloy, AZ)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Teens, Families, Rural

Goal: The goal of this project was to prevent substance abuse among high-risk youth in Arizona.

Impact: Participants in the experimental group experienced significant differences in family relations, significant decrease in alcohol and other drugs, and also a significant decrease of alcohol use by family members. Participants of the control group did not experience similar impacts.

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.