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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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Sunwise Stampede: Promoting Sun Safety among Zoo Visitors (San Diego, CA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Children, Families

Goal: To encourage and increase safe sun behaviors in children and adults by limiting their exposure to ultraviolet rays through the use of sunscreen and hat wear.

Supporting At-Risk Youth with Summer High School Preparatory Programs (Cherokee-Graham-Swain Counties, NC)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal is to help prepare at-risk youth to develop their academic skills and self-confidence for as they transition from middle school to high school.

Take Charge of Your Health (Augusta, GA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of the program is to reduce medical costs, to prevent premature institutionalization, and to save taxpayers' dollars. Additionally, the program aims to prevent depression among the elderly, reduce daily living activity limitations caused by chronic diseases and lack of exercise, and increase the quality of life among the older adults.

The F.U.N. Initiative (Garfield, NJ)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Education / School Environment

Goal: The overall mission of this initiative is to develop an active, healthy community. Goals of this initiative include increasing the number of children walking or biking to school, and developing opportunities for Garfield's children and families to be more physically active and eat more healthily.

The Magnolia Project (Jacksonville, Duval County)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Family Planning, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The Magnolia Project's mission is to improve the health and well-being of women during their childbearing years by empowering communities to address medical, behavioral, cultural and social service needs.

Work Central Project (North Carolina)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment, Adults

Goal: The goals of this program are:

1. Re-Employment: They create job search plans, develop job readiness strategies, and emphasize family maintenance. This goal recognizes a noticeable number of first jobs do not last; therefore, Work Central prevents the re-spending of taxpayer dollars already spent once.

2. Job Retention: They review support systems, promote problem solving, and support longevity on the job. This goal is measured in 6 and 12 month benchmarks.

3. Career Advancement: They introduce customers to career paths, explore training opportunities, and pursue educational plans.

4. Asset Accumulation: They connect customers to checking and savings account resources, inform customers about financial counseling, and educate customers about home ownership opportunities. Work Central replaces homeless with hope so people will believe that tomorrow will be better than their today.

Don't Gamble on Food Safety (Seattle-King County, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Food Safety

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide more dynamic and effective food safety training programs in order to engage food service workers and get them to adopt healthier food handling practices. In turn, this will reduce the number of food borne disease outbreaks and improve public health.

Glacier Affordable Housing Foundation (GAHF) (Montana)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Rural

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide affordable housing for Montana's low and moderate-income residents.

InnVision the Way Home (San Jose to Redwood City)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: InnVision's mission is to empower homeless and at-risk families and individuals in finding a permanent home by offering various levels of housing and day programs in a safe and supportive environment that promotes self-worth and independent living.

Kids Walk-to-School Day (Washington)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of the KidsWalk-to-School program is to encourage physical activity as an integral part of a child’s daily routine, promote the development of safe walking and bicycling routes, and teach safe pedestrian practices to potentially reduce injury among children.

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.