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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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Urban Brownfields Program: Rehabilitating Toxic Industrial Land, New Jersey, USA (Trenton, NJ)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Urban

Goal: Isles, Inc., is a nationally recognized nonprofit community development and environmental organization with the mission to foster more self-reliant families in healthy, sustainable communities. Through their Urban Brownfields program, Isles works to create a deeper understanding of the health and environmental conditions in Trenton.

Vera Casey Teen Parenting Program (Berkeley)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Adolescent Health

Goal: The goal of the Vera Casey Teen Parenting Program is to promote healthy teen parents and children by providing and coordinating comprehensive services supporting a healthy pregnancy, healthy children, and the well-being of the whole family.

Video Game Play (Texas, North Carolina)

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

Goal: The goal of this study was to investigate how video games can be utilized to promote healthy behavior changes in diet, physical activity, and adiposity to reduce adverse health effects.

Warren Village (Denver, CO)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Poverty, Families

Goal: The goal of this program is to help motivated low-income single-parents move from public assistance to self-sufficiency through affordable housing, quality child care, counselling, education and training.

Water First (Lexington, KY)

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

Goal: Water First aims to reduce the sugary beverage intake and increase water intake in tweens through an educational website for tweens and their parents, and promotion in the community.

We Can! (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens, Families

Goal: The goal of We Can! is to bring families and communities together to promote healthy weight in children ages 8 through 13 through improved food choices, increased physical activity, and reduced screen time.

Weed and Seed (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use

Goal: The goals of Weed and Seed are to control violent crime, drug trafficking, and drug-related crime and provide a safe environment where residents can live, work, and raise their families.

Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) (USA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Adults

Goal: The goal of WRAP is to teach participants recovery and self-management skills and strategies.

Impact: The WRAP program shows that the efficacy and effectiveness of peer-led self-management interventions has the potential to enhance self-determination and promote recovery for people with psychiatric disabilities.

WeViva (Austin, TX)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The mission is to provide affordable and accessible fitness and nutrition programs to people in low-income communities.

Why Murder? (Baltimore, MD)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: Why Murder? works to reform and revitalize communities throughout Baltimore that are torn apart by homicides and the frequent administration of "street justice."

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.