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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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Anchorage Youth Court (Anchorage, AK)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Urban

Goal: Anchorage Youth Court gives youth offenders personal accountability; youth attorneys good training and the opportunity to make a significant difference in others' lives; and the public an effective and comprehensive public safety system.

Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program (USA)

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

Goal: The goal of the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program is to increase joint flexibility, range of motion, and muscle strength among individuals with arthritis.

Assessment and Referral (Kansas City, MO)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Assessment and Referral is to help individuals struggling with a substance use disorder evaluate their needs and strengths and begin to make healthy choices that improve the overall quality of their lives.

Impact: First Call provided over 1,700 assessments in 2013, and more than half of clients showed improvements in their Addiction Severity Index (ASI) scores or a decrease in substance use.

ASSIST: A Stop Smoking in Schools Trial (United Kingdon)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: ASSIST aims to develop a diverse group consisting of young people that will then influence their peers to defy the idea of smoking thus reducing the number of adolescent smokers and reducing its health effects.

Impact: A peer-led intervention reduced smoking among adolescents at a modest cost: the ASSIST program cost of £32 ($42 USD) (95% CI = £29.70–£33.80) per student. The incremental cost per student not smoking at 2 years was £1,500 ($1984 USD) (95% CI = £669–£9,947).

Assisted Competitive Employment Project (ACE) (Syracuse, NY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Assisted Competitive Employment Project is to assist individuals who have been diagnosed with a mental disorder in obtaining and maintaining employment.

Availability, Responsiveness, and Continuity (ARC)

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

Goal: Through a 2- to 3-year process, ARC is designed to improve organizational culture and climate, increase job satisfaction and commitment, support the adoption and success of evidence-based practices (EBPs), reduce staff turnover, and improve clients’ outcomes.

AZTech Intelligent Transportation System (Maricopa County, AZ)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation

Goal: The AZTech Executive Committee set the following objectives:

1. Integrate the existing Intelligent Transportation Infrastructure (ITI) into a regional system.
2. Establish a regional integrated traveler information system for the multi-modal travelers.
3. Demonstrate the benefits of integrated community-based transportation systems to achieve system efficiencies.
4. Provide a showcase of how technology can improve the overall quality of life, conserve energy and reduce pollution.
5. Set a worldwide standard of excellence for deployment of ITS in a major economy.

Bank On San Francisco (San Francisco)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Poverty, Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of Bank On San Francisco is to assist low-income San Franciscans in entering the financial mainstream by offering financial education, aide with opening bank accounts, and shaping helpful financial policies through partnerships with the San Francisco Treasurer's Office, local community organizations, and banks.

Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII) (San Francisco Bay Area)

Filed under Good Idea, Health

Goal: The mission of BARHII is to transform public health practice for the purpose of eliminating health inequities using a broad spectrum of approaches that improve community health. Consistent with that mission, BARHII has set the following objectives:

- Train staff on broad spectrum of strategies to improve nutrition and physical activity, and reduce health inequities.
- Develop regional collaborations of public health departments, organizations, coalitions and communities to participate in a comprehensive approach to improve nutrition and physical activity.
- Develop a media advocacy campaign to raise awareness among policy makers and the general public about key issues of nutrition and physical activity, and their link to chronic disease and health inequities.
- Use the regional platform to achieve changes in institutional practices and public policies, and increase support for public health.

Bayview HEAL Zone (Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of the program is to reduce chronic disease health disparities by making the healthy choice the easy choice.

Impact: The Bayview HEAL Zone has brought together a variety of organizations and supported healthy eating and active living projects in the community.

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.