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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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Rikers Health Advocacy Program (New York)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Men, Urban

Goal: The mission of the Rikers Health Advocacy Program is to provide an intensive AIDS education designed to reduce HIV risk behaviors for incarcerated adolescent male drug users.

Schools on Train Safety Program (Washington)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / School Environment, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to introduce teachers, students, and chaperones to rail and train safety, the environment, and train travel. This program targets all students from kindergarten through high school.

Senior Wellness Program (St. Augustine, FL)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve the quality of life of residents of Northeast Florida by providing programs and services which raise the health, education and economic standards of citizens living at the lowest social and economic levels.

Special Diabetes Program for Indians (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the Special Diabetes Program for Indians is to provide diabetes education and services to Native Americans and Alaska Natives.

Special Infant Formula Distribution Program (Lancaster County, PA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide affordable and easily accessible physician prescribed special formula to babies with special dietary needs due to health problems.

Tooth Tutor Dental Access Program (Vermont)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children, Urban

Goal: The goal of The Tooth Tutor Dental Access Program is to increase access to dental care and to reduce preventable dental diseases among children.

Activity Bursts in the Classroom (ABC) Fitness Program (Independence, MO)

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

Goal: The project aims to promote a healthy lifestyle and reverse the trend of obesity among students and their families.

Impact: The ABC Fitness Program demonstrates the feasibility of bursts of structured physical activity for elementary school students with the beneficial effects on fitness and other health measures.

Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program (USA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Other Conditions, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program is to increase joint flexibility, range of motion, and muscle strength among individuals with arthritis.

Bienestar: A School-Based Diabetes and Obesity Prevention Program (Texas)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Diabetes, Children, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The objectives of Bienestar are to decrease dietary saturated fat intake, increase dietary fiber intake, and increase physical activity among low-income Mexican-American elementary and middle school children.

Impact: The Bienestar Health Program statistically significantly increases fitness scores and dietary fiber intakes levels among low-income, Mexican-American fourth-graders. A second randomized control trial conducted from 6th to 8th grade showed reductions in various indexes of adiposity.

Blues Program (Cognitive Behavioral Group Depression Intervention)

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

Goal: To significantly reduce depressive symptoms and to reduce the rates of future major depressive disorder onset among adolescents.

Impact: The Blues Program has been shown to decrease depressive symptoms, decrease rates of major depression onset, decrease rates of substance use, and increase factors that are protective against depression.

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.