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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 ACHIEVE (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / School Environment, Children, Teens

Goal: Project ACHIEVE's ultimate goal is to help design and implement effective school and schooling processes to maximize the academic and social/emotional/behavioral progress and achievement of all students.

Project ALIVE: A Lifetime Intervention Via Email (California)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Adults

Goal: The goal of Project ALIVE is to encourage healthy eating and physical activity.

Project Angel Heart (Colorado)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity

Goal: Project Angel Heart improves health and well-being for people with life-threatening illnesses by preparing and delivering medically tailored meals and promoting the power of food as medicine.

Impact: Survey data from Project Angel Heart clients show that this program has a positive impact on clients. Of clients surveyed in 2018: 82% report less stress, 69% report improved adherence to health care plans, 72% report improved quality of life, and 72% report improved ability to afford basic needs.

Project Back-on-Track (Gainesville, FL)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to help divert youths in early stages of delinquency from committing future crimes.

Project COFFEE (Co-Operative Federation for Educational Experiences) (Oxford, MA)

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

Goal: The goal of the program is to prevent school dropout by providing services addressing students' academic, social, emotional, and occupational needs.

Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) (New Mexico)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Rural

Goal: The mission of Project ECHO is to develop the capacity to safely and
effectively treat chronic, common, and complex diseases in rural and
underserved areas, and to monitor outcomes of this treatment.

Project Green Fleet (Minnesota )

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Air, Children, Teens

Goal: PGF is working to complete the retrofit of all 4,000 eligible school buses in the state. PGF also aims to reduce Minnesota's ambient air pollution, and help Minnesota avoid being declared a non-attainment area under the federal Clean Air Act.

Project Homeless Connect (San Francisco)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Urban

Goal: The mission of Project Homeless Connect (PHC) is to connect homeless San Franciscans with the care they need to move forward. The goals of Project Homeless Connect are to:

- Improve access to services for homeless San Franciscans.
- Improve the system of care through collaboration and the sharing of best practices among San Francisco’s homeless service provider community.
- Engage and increase the involvement of the business, nonprofit community, and individual volunteers to work together to provide access to services for homeless San Franciscans.
- To leverage the private sector, corporations, and foundations to expand service capacity and funds.

Project PREVENT (Massachusetts and North Carolina)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults

Goal: The goal of Project PREVENT is to reduce behavioral risk factors for colorectal cancer among individuals with positive screenings.

Impact: A significantly greater proportion of Project PREVENT participants reduced their multiple risk factor score when compared to the control group (47% vs. 35%). Intervention participants also had significantly greater multivitamin intake and significantly reduced red meat consumption.

Project SHINE

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Civic Engagement, Teens, Older Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Project SHINE is to build strong, healthy, and sustainable communities by fostering positive growth and relationships among its participants.

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.