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 Good Idea, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to help students achieve in mathematics.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Family Planning, Teens
Goal: The goal of this program is to educate adolescents about teen pregnancy, abstinence, and contraceptive.
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Teens, Urban
Goal: Program goals include educating and training young people from some of the most life-threatening neighborhoods of Oakland to enable them to participate in making their lives, their neighborhoods, and their communities safer and healthier, and educating policy makers, community members, and the media on the impact of violence on youth and violence prevention strategies.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation
Goal: The State of Arizona's original interest in telecommuting arose out of the search for solutions to common issues facing many areas in the United States: traffic congestion, air pollution, and energy consumption. However, Arizona has found that telecommuting is a powerful management tool that increases employee productivity while reducing the cost of employee turnover.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Cancer, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The goal of this telephone outreach program was to increase colorectal cancer screening in a predominantly lower- to moderate-income African American population.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders
Goal: Baylor Scott & White started TelePsych because many of its hospitals do not have any psychologists or psychiatrists on staff. The Hillcrest hospital in particular has seen an increase in patients needing acute mental health care. Its location next to the highway and the dearth of other trauma centers means that the hospital receives 1-2 patients per day with acute mental health needs. Hillcrest has licensed medical social workers in the Emergency Department but struggled without an actual psychologist or psychiatrist available. Their goal in implementing TelePsych was to move mental health patients through the continuum of care efficiently and with empathy.
Impact: The hospital staff at Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest has been very impressed with the implementation and ease of use of the TelePsych process and system. Patient satisfaction has increased and staff are able to move patients through the next level of care more efficiently.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families, Urban
Goal: The goal of TRICKs was to reach out to parents using a novel reminder system and increase immunization rates at the KU pediatric clinic.
Impact: There was a significant increase in immunization rate following the implementation of parent text reminders when compared to the initial immunization rate.
Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants
Goal: The goal of AgStar is to reduce methane emissions at confined animal feedlot operations by promoting the use of biogas recovery systems.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality
Goal: The goal of this program is to provide health care access to uninsured, low income residents of Anne Arundel County.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Prevention & Safety, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Urban
Goal: The goal of the Backyard Initiative is to improve health and health care.