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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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Children's National Parish Nursing Program (Washington, D.C.)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal is to increase awareness in faith-based communities regarding preventative care for children and services available at Children's National Medical Center for patients and families.

Impact: The Parish Nursing Program will train eight nurses to become Faith Community Nurses in Summer 2013.

Choosing Healthy And Rewarding Meals (CHARM) School Program (Washington, D.C.)

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

Goal: The goal of Choosing Healthy and Rewarding Meals (CHARM) School Program is to promote healthy eating habits and teach life skills.

Chronic Disease Self-Managment Education in a Recreation Setting (Sedgwick County, KS)

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

Goal: The goal of this workshop is to build the participants’ self-confidence in their ability to manage their health and maintain active and fulfilling lives despite their chronic disease condition.

Impact: In 2016 Derby Health Collaborative hosted six free self-management education courses in partnership with the Derby School District, the Derby Senior Center, the Derby Public Library and the Kansas State Extension and Research Center. Workshops will continue in 2017.

Chronic Truancy Initiative

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal of the initiative was to address poor attendance and other problems within families of identified chronic elementary school truants who missed 20 percent or more of school days within a 6-week period.

Circles of Hope (St. Louis, MO)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Civic Engagement, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: WomanSpirit aims to foster grassroots women's leadership in the St. Louis area by claiming safe community space for women's mutual support and training, gaining access to government funds for women's economic development, and achieving positions in local, regional and national decision-making bodies.

Club HERO (Helping Everyone Reach Out) (Atlanta, GA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Club HERO is encourage feelings of support at home and school and increase knowledge about the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs to prevent youths' drug use.

Coded Text Messages for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Results (Clay, FL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Teens, Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of the program is to reduce the spread of STDs/STIs in high risk populations under 25 years old by decreasing the length of time from diagnosis to treatment.

Colorectal Cancer Screening in Chinese Americans Project (Seattle, WA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Cancer, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of this project was to promote colorectal cancer screening among Chinese Americans.

Come Home Baltimore (Baltimore, MD)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: 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.

Common Ground (California)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: Common Ground seeks to help homeless individuals and families develop stability and independence by providing housing and support services.

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.