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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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Project Health Education Awareness Research Team (HEART) (El Paso, TX)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Adults, Women, Men, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The objective of Project HEART (Health Education Awareness Research Team) was to promote behavior changes to decrease cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in a high-risk Hispanic border population.

Project Joy (Baltimore, MD)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Project Joy is to improve cardiovascular lifestyle risk factors among African American women.

Project ORE (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Teens, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Project ORE is to use a friendship-based sexual education intervention to prevent HIV/STI transmission in high-risk urban African American adolescent girls.

Project SOAR Mentoring Program for Youth (Galveston, AZ)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of Project SOAR is to promote academic success among youth at Galveston Elementary School.

Project TRUST

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to educate children about sexual abuse.

Provider Intervention to Improve Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates Among African American Patients (Washington D.C.)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this intervention is to improve colorectal cancer screening rates for African Americans.

REACH for Wellness (Fulton County, GA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve cardiovascular health among residents of the Atlanta Empowerment Zone (AEZ).

Richmond Comprehensive Homicide Initiative (Richmond, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of this strategy is to reduce homicide in Richmond, California.

Rikers Health Advocacy Program (New York)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Men, Urban

Goal: The mission of the Rikers Health Advocacy Program is to provide an intensive AIDS education designed to reduce HIV risk behaviors for incarcerated adolescent male drug users.

Rocky View Schools Healthy Eating Initiative (Canada)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of the Rocky View Schools Healthy Eating Initiative is to implement healthy eating guidelines that will change the school food environment, thereby supporting students in making healthy food choices.

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.