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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 U (Kansas City, MO)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Healthy U is to work with several community groups to provide healthy snacks as well as education on nutrition and fitness to students and their families at University Academy.

Impact: The percentage of screened students who were overweight fell from 45.9% in the 2011-2012 school year to 36.9% in the 2011-2012 school year. Over 75% of participants in both Teen Eats and Family Dinners demonstrated a positive behavior change.

Heartbeat Wales (Wales)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Adults

Goal: The goal of Heartbeat Wales was to reduce behavioral risks for cardiovascular disease.

Heartsong (White Plains, NY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health, Families, Urban

Goal: Heartsong’s mission is to provide children with special needs and their families with clinically-based music and art therapy programs.

Help Educate to Eliminate Diabetes (HEED) (New York)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of Project HEED is to lessen the incidence of diabetes in ethnic minority communities through peer-led educational interventions focusing on weight loss.

Help Me Grow: National

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The mission of the Help Me Grow National Center is to enable and support the building of HMG systems across the country so that states can implement effective, universal, early surveillance and screening for all children and link those at risk for developmental and behavioral problems to appropriate programs and services.

HMG National supports affiliate states by:

Promoting development and expansion of a national network of states that are building HMG systems

Providing technical assistance to help states implement the core components and structural requirements of HMG

Informing the public discourse on the crucial importance of optimal child development

Ultimately, HMG National's goal is for all families to have knowledge of and easy access to statewide systems that support them in learning about their children's developmental needs and finding appropriate services.

Helping Kids Grow (West Allis, WI)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve the well-being of pre-school children.

HOMEBUILDERS

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Families

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent the unnecessary out-of-home placement of children through intensive, on-site intervention, and to teach families new problem-solving skills to prevent future crises.

Hope Street Family Center- Early Head Start Program (Los Angeles)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Families, Urban

Goal: The program’s goal is to provide comprehensive child development and family support services to families with children 0–3 in order for parents to support and encourage their children’s early growth, development and school readiness.

Horizon Communities in Prison

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Families

Goal: The purpose of the Horizon Communities in Prison program is to build links between the faith community and correctional institutions in order to affect an inner transformation of inmates and prepare them to live with others in mutual support, trust and respect.

Horizon House (Indianapolis, IN)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes

Goal: Horizon House believes homeless guests possess strengths that are key to ending their homelessness, and states its mission is "to be a focal point for services and assistance to empower individuals and families to no longer be homeless."

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.