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 Effective Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults
Both local and state governments face huge challenges in providing senior populations access to public, agency, professional and family caregivers, and community services that allow seniors to remain independent. The complex maze of constantly changing program and service eligibility rules challenge even the most knowledgeable senior service providers. Fragmentation within senior service agencies further results in duplication of services, unnecessary waiting lists, and caregiver and volunteer burnout. This resource attempts to address those problems by providing quick and easy access to a variety of programs.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants
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.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Children, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The objectives are to increase knowledge of SIDS risk reduction strategies, including sleep position and roomsharing without bedsharing.
A 15-minute educational session with small groups of parents is effective in informing parents about the importance of safe sleep position and in changing parent behavior for at least the first 6 months of the infant's life.
Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Built Environment
- to save our most valuable remaining natural resources before they are forever lost,
- to support existing communities and neighborhoods by targeting state resources to support development in areas where the infrastructure is already in place or planned to support it, and
- to save taxpayers millions of dollars in the unnecessary cost of building the infrastructure required to support sprawl.
Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Air
The goal of this partnership is to improve the environmental performance and fuel efficiency of the US freight sector (truck & rail) through the use of a voluntary market incentive system and to encourage retailers/end users to choose trucking and/or rail companies that are environmental leaders in their respective industry segments.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children
S4L strives to create self-confidence and change the lives of underprivileged children by providing orthodontic services at no cost.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children, Families
The Smile Programs... the mobile dentists mission is to bring state-of-the-art, dental care to those students in need in the most comfortable and effective way possible.
Smile Programs provides mobile dental care to children in schools in over a dozen states.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens, Urban
Spark's mission is to provide life-changing apprenticeships to youth in underserved communities across the United States.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Teens
The goal of SPORT is to help adolescents avoid substance use by increasing physical activity and bettering their self images.
This program provides a whole body experience, where youth focus on improvements in their lives instead of drugs.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Children, Teens, Families, Urban
The free sports medicine physicals provided by Jackson Hospital & Clinic helps thousands of parents, 25 schools, and hundreds of coaches ensure that students are healthy enough to participate in athletic programs when school starts in the fall.