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.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
The goal of the Baltimore Healthy Carryout project was to increase healthy food options at carryout facilities and restaurants in Baltimore's low-income neighborhoods.
The BHC project reached 36.8% more customers during the intervention period than at baseline when comparing intervention carryouts to comparison carryouts. Customers reported purchasing specific foods due to the presence of a photo on the menu board (65.3%) or menu labeling (42.6%).
Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Families, Urban
Come Home Baltimore is an initiative to develop "better than new" market rate housing and foster forward thinking and grassroots social change towards sustainable community development.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Teens, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
The goal of Focus on Youth is to teach youth the skills and knowledge they need to protect themselves from HIV and other STDs.
The Focus on Youth intervention increased self-reported condom use and positively affected perceptions six months after the end of the program.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Urban
The goals of the Staying Alive program are to teach drug users about how to recognize opiate overdose signs and symptoms, how to respond to any overdose cases by calling 911, and how to use rescue breathing and naloxone administration to reduce life-threatening drug overdose.
Staying Alive reduces mortality due to opiate and heroin drug overdose.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens, Adults, Men, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
The goal of the Violence Intervention Program (VIP) is to reduce the number of repeat victims of intentional violent injury by providing assessment, counseling, and social support from a multi-disciplinary team.
Patients who participated in the Violence Intervention Program were less likely to be re-hospitalized due to violent injury.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Urban
YO! Baltimore helps young people, previously disconnected from traditional learning environments, to increase their wage earnings and education credentials.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
The goal of Choosing Healthy and Rewarding Meals (CHARM) School Program is to promote healthy eating habits and teach life skills.
Filed under Good Idea, Education / School Environment, Children, Urban
The goal of the program is to build sustainable, local, urban gardens, in order to deliver more reliable and better nutrition to today’s youth and urban communities.
Peers Reaching Out and Modeling Intervention Strategies (PROMISE) (Texas, Colorado, California, New York, Washington)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Urban
The goal of Community PROMISE is to encourage HIV prevention practices.
PROMISE leads to significant community-wide progress toward consistent HIV risk reduction.
Filed under Good Idea, Art & Recreation, Children, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The goal of the paper is to introduce effective practices for building a summer learning program that reaches the neediest kids, gets kids learning, and keeps going strong.