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, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Women
The goal of this program is to improve the individual oral hygiene practices of the prenatal women in order to reduce the number of low birth weight, pre-term infants born to this population.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Families
The goal of this program is to promote positive marital relationships and to prevent marital problems.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases
The intent of the practice is to decrease mortality and morbidity relative to Hepatitis A, B or C infection rate in Western New York.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / School Environment, Children
- Detect school adjustment difficulties
- Prevent social and emotional problems
- Enhance learning skills
One study demonstrated that participants made significant improvements in task orientation, specifically in working more independently and completing tasks faster. In behavior control, program students showed increased coping skills and lower levels of aggressiveness and produced fewer disruptions. In assertiveness, students had improved participation in activities, were better at expressing ideas, and showed increased leadership and decreased shyness. Improvements in peer sociability included increases in the quality of peer relationships and improved social skills. Several other evaluations of the Primary Project present evidence of improved school adjustment and decreases in problem behaviors for participants.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Educational Attainment, Teens
Project CRAFT is designed to improve educational levels, teach vocational skills and reduce recidivism among adjudicated youth, while addressing the home building industry's need for entry level workers.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens
The goal of this program is to reduce or stop smoking among adolescents.
At 3-month follow-up, 17% of youths in the treatment conditions reported having quit smoking for at least 30 days, compared with only 8% of those teens in the control condition. These positive effects were also demonstrated when moved from a clinic setting to the classroom, as students in the program condition experienced a greater reduction in weekly smoking and monthly smoking, at 6-and-12-month follow-ups.
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens, Rural
The goal of Project MAGIC is to help juvenile offenders leave the criminal justice system.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Adults
The PHLAME Study had four primary goals: (1) Increase physical activity to 30 minutes each day; (2) Reduce percent calories from fat to less than 30%; (3) Increase servings of fruits and vegetables to at least 5 per day; and (4) Improve energy balance and normalize body fat.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Re/Storing Nashville seeks to end hunger through creating a healthy, just and sustainable food system.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Teens
The goal of ReachOut Central (ROC) is to improve mental health among young people through an online gaming service by teaching them the practical coping skills for dealing with major stressors in life, ranging from issues such as alcohol use to psychological distress.
The aggregate results of this statistical analysis point to ReachOut Central's potential to impact and improve certain factors, such as coping ability, but also to relatively unexplored gender-dependent outcomes for other factors like alcohol consumption.