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, Economy / Housing & Homes, Families
Goal: The goal of Mercy Housing is to create and strengthen Healthy Communities Across America.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens
Goal: The goals of this program are to establish a single application for school-based youth prevention programs; provide a common language and approach for parent, community, and student health programs; and reinforce prevention messages from a variety of sources.
Impact: Students who received the Michigan Model curriculum had significantly better health outcomes in several areas: social and emotional health, interpersonal skills, aggressive behavior, safety attitudes and skills, physical activity skills, nutrition behavior, drug refusal skills, recent alcohol and tobacco use, and intentions to use alcohol and smoke cigarettes.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Cancer
Goal: The goal of this project is to educate citizens, health professionals, researchers, and policy makers about cancer in Missouri. Complete, timely, and high-quality data are essential for conducting research and responding to public concerns about cancer incidence in their communities.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Oral Health, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The goal of Missouri’s Community Water Fluoridation Program is to prevent dental caries and to reduce the associated health costs.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Men, Urban
Goal: The goals of Mpowerment are to mobilize young gay and bisexual men to reduce sexual risk taking, encourage regular HIV testing, and build positive social connections with peers.
Impact: The Mpowerment intervention successfully developed a mechanism to socialize young gay men to safer sex. Since this intervention relies primarily on volunteers, it is relatively inexpensive for communities to maintain and can continue to be made available for future generations.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Food Safety, Children, Teens
Goal: The goal of the National Coalition for Food-Safe Schools is to reduce foodborne illness in the U.S. by improving food safety in schools.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use
Goal: The goal of this program is to effectively treat substance abuse by using the patient's social support network to support abstinence.
Impact: Among Network Therapy clients, 64.5% of all samples submitted were negative for opioids, compared with 45.3% of all samples submitted by medication maintenance clients. Furthermore, 88% of urine samples were negative for cocaine for Network Therapy participants, compared with 66% of urine samples collected from treatment-as-usual clients.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Families
Goal: NEXUS intends to provide the collaboration & communication needed for consumers to recover from alcohol and other drug abuse issues in a positive, supportive and nurturing environment.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce the impact of lead poisoning and to prevent new cases of lead poisoning among Niagara County children.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Adults, Families
Goal: The mission of the North Carolina Fruits and Veggies Nutrition Coalition is to build a healthier North Carolina by increasing access to and consumption of fruits and vegetables.