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 Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Women
The goal of this program is to improve health outcomes for pregnant and postpartum women with substance abuse problems and their infants.
Improvement in birth weight and gestational age, and reduction in admittance to neonatal intensive care unit and positive infant toxicology screens.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Adults, Families
The Red Rock Ridge & Valley Trail System will be a complete network of bike lanes, sidewalks, and trails connecting communities across Jefferson County.
The master plan for over 200 miles of shared-use greenways and trails and over 600 miles of street-based bicycle and pedestrian pathways will improve alternative transportation and recreational opportunities.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens
The goal of this program is to prevent and reduce substance use and abuse among high risk, multi-problem adolescents placed in residential child care facilities.
One evaluation showed that adolescents participating in RSAP showed significant reductions in their use of alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco from pretest to posttest measures.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Adults, Families, Urban
The mission of Safety Stop is to increase the number of children who are properly secured in safety seats during trips made in a vehicle by educating parents and caregivers participating in Safety Stop car seat fittings and consultations.
Safety Stop increased mean scores on child safety seat knowledge by 5% (p < 0.01) among participating parents and caregivers.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Adults
The ongoing goals of the ADHC include maintaining functional independence and preventing premature institutionalization while providing respite and a support system for caregivers and providing a therapeutic environment involving; physical , occupational, speech, recreation, psycho-social and creative arts therapy to increase the quality of life for participants.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children
The goal of this intervention was to reduce dental caries among children by promoting twice daily tooth brushing.
Supervised tooth brushing and positive reinforcement in a school setting decreased the rate of dental caries in participating children.
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 Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens
The goal of SPARK is to promote physical activity among youth through school-based programs.
A health-related physical education curriculum can significantly increase physical activity for students in physical education classes.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults
SHHC targets individual, social, and built environment levels of behavior change and is designed to improve diet and physical activity behaviors, assess and improve local food and physical environment resources, and shift social norms about active living and healthy eating through civic engagement and capacity building.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Children
- Reach and identify uninsured children with special health care needs in Florida and enroll them in insurance
- Focus on underserved communities that traditionally have faced numerous barriers to care, particularly those in the black and Hispanic communities, and children living in rural areas
- Use telemedicine to facilitate enrollment in CMS, care coordination, and access to specialty care
- Work with trusted community elders -- grandmothers -- as lay health partners to facilitate health-related outreach and support to children with special health care needs and their families.
In short, the project seeks to build a sustainable medical home for children with special health care needs in the safety net.