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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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Open Wide (Connecticut)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the program is to train non-dental health and childcare professionals in dental disease screening and dental referrals for children.

Operation Ceasefire (Boston, MA)

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

Goal: The goals of the program are to carry out a comprehensive strategy to apprehend and prosecute offenders who carry firearms, to put others on notice that offenders face certain and serious punishment for carrying illegal firearms, and to prevent youths from following the same criminal path.

Osteofit (Canada)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Older Adults, Adults

Goal: To reduce and prevent falls in people with osteoporosis and osteopenia through exercise and education.

Palcare (Burlingame, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment, Children, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide flexible, nurturing education and child care for working families.

Partners in Healing (Merced County, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the Partners in Healing Program is to improve health care and access to health services among Hmong refugees.

Pasadena Community Asthma Program (PCAP) (Pasadena)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Respiratory Diseases, Children, Families

Goal: The program’s goal is to help families prevent and/or successfully manage asthma.

Peace Works (Miami, FL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / School Environment, Children

Goal: The goals of Peace Works are to (1) promote students' prosocial behavior through the use of conflict resolution; (2) enhance school climate through caring and support; (3) teach parents constructive problem solving and anger management; and (4) improve parents' positive affiliation with school.

Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) (Nashville, TN)

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

Goal: The goal of PALS is to ensure that all students succeed in reading and math.

Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (Pennsylvania)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Community & Business Resources

Goal: The goal of the Fresh Food Financing Initiative is to remove financing obstacles and operating barriers for supermarkets in poor communities, stimulate investment of private capital in low-wealth communities, create jobs, prepare and retain a qualified workforce, and reduce diet-related diseases by providing healthy food.

Pets for Life (Kansas City Metropolitan Area)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: The purpose of Pets for Life, Inc. is to enhance the care and treatment of people in local hospitals, nursing homes, domestic violence shelters, mental health programs, youth treatment centers, corrections facilities, and hospices through the use of certified therapy teams of pets and volunteers.

Impact: The benefits of pet/volunteer visits to people in the community include increased emotional/sociological well being of these individuals and positive physiological changes.

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.