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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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Safe at Home (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The Safe at Home program makes modifications and accessibility improvements in the homes of low-income elderly homeowners in order to avoid injury and nursing home placement.

Safe City Youth Leadership (Denver, CO)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Civic Engagement, Teens, Urban

Goal: The group’s mission is to improve the leadership skills of Denver’s youth while supporting and improving the community.

Safe Routes for Seniors (New York City)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: To improve cardiovascular health among seniors by improving the pedestrian environment in New York.

Safe Sidewalks and Safe Routes to School

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment

Goal: Safe Routes to School programs aim to make it safer for students to walk and bike to school and encourage more walking and biking where safety is not a barrier.

Safe Streets / Strong Communities (New Orleans, LA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: Safe Streets/Strong Communities is a community-based organization that campaigns for a new criminal justice system in New Orleans, one that creates safe streets and strong communities for everyone, regardless of race or economic status.

Safe Walk to School (Oakland, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Public Safety, Children, Families

Goal: Safe Walk to School's goal is to keep children walking to school safe.

Safer Homes Project (Pacoima)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants, Children, Teens, Adults

Goal: The mission of the Safer Homes Program is to help residents to create healthy comes for their families in order to prevent environmentally related health problems such as lead poisoning, asthma, mold, and moisture.

San Francisco Healthy Corner Stores Project (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal of the San Francisco Healthy Corner Stores Project is to bring healthy food to neighborhoods with limited access to fresh produce.

Impact: Four stores in San Francisco were converted to sell fresh produce. Legislation was passed in San Francisco that established Healthy Food Retailer Incentives Program to promote healthy food access in corner stores citywide.

San Francisco SafeStart Initiative (San Francisco, CA)

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

Goal: The goal of the SafeStart Initiative is to reduce the incidence and impact of violence on children ages 6 and under.

San Francisco Unified School District Healthy Food Policy (San Francisco)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: SFUSD aimed to provide students with healthy and appealing food choices and to diminish the dependence of schools and school-related organizations on selling unhealthy foods.

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.