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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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Flex Your Power Case Study: Equity Office Cogeneration Systems (San Francisco, CA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Urban

Goal: The goals and operational benefits of (DG) systems include the delivery of improved power reliability, cleaner electric power, and below market energy rates, in an environmentally friendly manner.

Flex Your Power Case Study: Glenborough Realty Trust (USA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Urban

Goal: The goal of Glenborough's energy management program is to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy costs at Glenborough properties nationwide.

Flex Your Power Case Study: Qualcomm (USA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Urban

Goal: Qualcomm's energy goals include maximizing energy efficiency in all new construction, retrofitting existing buildings to incorporate efficiency technologies, and identifying and implementing demand reduction strategies.

Flex Your Power Case Study: San Bernardino County (San Bernardino County)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability

Goal: San Bernardino County’s goal in 2001 was to reduce its energy use by 10 percent.

Focus on Diabetes (Denver, CO)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of Focus on Diabetes was to improve the health and health-related quality of life of African Americans with diabetes through community-based self-care education and events.

Green Affordable Housing Coalition (San Francisco, CA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability

Goal: The goal of the Green Affordable Housing Coalition is to produce economic and quality of life benefits for tenants and generate economic and environmental benefits by incorporating green building practices in the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of affordable housing.

H.O.M.E., Inc: Sustainable Human Settlement Development (Orland, ME)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes

Goal: The purpose of H.O.M.E.'s housing initiative was to provide four basic needs to the low income community: housing, food, fuel and employment.

King County (KC) Kids Oral Health Program (King County, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of the KC Kids Oral Health Program was to provide no-cost dental services to children who lived between 250% and 300% of the Federal Poverty Level.

King County Children's Health Initiative (King County, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of the Children's Health Initiative is to provide children with consistent access to health care services.

Maternal and Child Behavioral Health Pilot Project (King County, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Women, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Maternal and Child Behavioral Health Pilot Project is to prevent and treat common mental health disorders in low-income pregnant women, mothers, and their children.

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.