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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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The Duluth, Minnesota, Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP) Advocacy Response (Duluth, MN)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Domestic Violence & Abuse, Families

Goal: The mission of DAIP is to provide advocacy on behalf of battered women. DAIP staff provide information and assess the women's safety regardless of the situation, but they also offer advocacy at three key time periods: immediately after police intervention and arrest, throughout the court proceedings, and after case disposition. The advocates offer support and information about available community resources, explain the criminal court process, describe the civil court remedies available, and obtain information from the women in order to serve as their liaisons to the legal system and to ascertain the level of danger that each woman is in.

The Evergreen Jogging Path (Boyle Heights, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: To create a place for the citizens of Boyle Heights, CA to exercise which is safe and easy to access and thus promotes regular physical activity.

The Fenway Alliance: Walkability in a Commerical District (Fenway District, Boston, MA)

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

Goal: To achieve an improved physical environment, sense of community, and quality of life for members, residents and patrons of the Fenway Cultural District in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Food Trust (USA)

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

Goal: The Food Trust's mission is to ensure that everyone have access to affordable, nutritious food by providing nutrition education and greater availability of affordable, healthy food.

The Fortune Society (New York City)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Adults, Urban

Goal: The mission of The Fortune Society is to support successful reentry form prison and promote alternatives to incarceration, thus strengthening the fabric of our communities.

The Green Map System (GMS)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment

Goal: The goal of the Green Map System is to cultivate citizen participation and community sustainability in hundreds of places around the world.

The Greene Community Health Foundation (Greene County, OH)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality

Goal: The mission of the Greene Community Health Foundation is to 1. help assist underserved GCCHD clients with funding for medical needs, 2. find avenues of funding for clients, 3. develop partnerships with providers for reduced charges for clients, 4. develop community partnerships to strengthen programs and projects at GCCHD, and 5. develop state and national partnerships to strengthen the programs and projects at GCCHD.

The Harlem Hospital Injury Prevention Program (IPP) (Harlem, NY)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent injuries and violence among children and adolescents in Harlem.

The Healthy Corner Store Initiative (Philadelphia, PA)

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

Goal: The goal of the Healthy Corner Store Initiative is to improve healthy food access in underserved communities in Philadelphia.

Impact: From 2004 to 2012, over 600 corner stores committed to providing healthy food options for customers. One hundred corner stores received conversions (investments ranging between $1,000 and $5,000) to expand inventory of produce and other healthy products.

The Hundred Year Association of New York Municipal Awards Program (New York, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Educational Attainment

Goal: The goal of this program is to recognize and reward outstanding public service, academic excellence, and community service.

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.