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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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Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children

Goal: The mission of the R.E.A.D. program is to improve children's literacy skills through the use of literacy mentors.

Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Adults, Rural

Goal: The goal of the Rural Energy for America Program is to increase clean energy production, efficiency savings, economic activity, and new jobs in rural areas.

Safe Routes to School (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation, Children, Families

Goal: The goal of the Safe Routes to School program is to empower communities to make walking and bicycling to school a safe and routine activity.

Septic Systems (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: Septic systems serve approximately 25 percent of the U.S. population and about 40 percent of new developments. The U.S. Census Bureau has indicated that at least 10 percent of septic systems have stopped working. Some communities report failure rates as high as 70 percent! The goal of this program is to improve the performance of decentralized septic systems.

SF Health Code Article 38: Enhanced Ventilation for Urban Sensitive Use Development (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Governance, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: The purpose of SF Health Code Article 38 is to protect residents from the effects of living in a poor air quality zone by requiring enhanced ventilation in new and renovated residential buildings.

Impact: The City of San Francisco implemented a law requiring enhanced ventilation in new and renovated residential buildings to protect residents from harmful particulate matter.

Smile for a Lifetime Foundation (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children

Goal: S4L strives to create self-confidence and change the lives of underprivileged children by providing orthodontic services at no cost.

Smile for a Lifetime: Sonoma County (Sonoma County)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children

Goal: S4L strives to create self-confidence and change the lives of underprivileged children by providing orthodontic services at no cost.

Sonoma County Tobacco Use Prevention (Sonoma, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Adults

Goal: The goal of the Tobacco Use Prevention program is to control tobacco use, reduce secondhand smoke exposure, and encourage smoking cessation.

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.

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.