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 / Health Care Access & Quality
Goal: The Goal of this Promising Practice is to determine whether a tailored community health worker (CHW) intervention would improve post-hospital outcomes among low-SES patients.
Impact: This intervention would improve access to primary care and quality of discharge while controlling recurrent readmissions in a high-risk population. Health systems may leverage the CHW workforce to improve post-hospital outcomes by addressing behavioral and socioeconomic drivers of disease.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / School Environment, Children, Teens, Urban
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce aggressive behavior among children and adolescents.
Impact: An evaluation found significant, positive program effects on six of the seven variables assessed, including knowledge of psychosocial skills, self-reported aggression, and teacher-reported aggression, with a 41% decrease in aggression-related disciplinary incidents and a 67% reduction in suspensions for violent behavior.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Teens
Goal: The Penn Resiliency Program is a depression prevention program that seeks to reduce the longevity of symptoms exhibited and the severity of symptoms at onset of depression, through cognitive-behavioral therapy and problem-solving techniques.
Impact: The Penn Resiliency program shows that a group-based program seeking to prevent the initial onset of and decrease the exacerbation of depression children and teens by incorporating specific coping and problem-solving skills can reduce depressive symptoms over time.
Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Investment & Personal Finance
Goal: The purpose of the Task Force was to:
1. identify and explore current and proposed strategies for
- building incomes and assets for working families;
- promoting financial education and literacy; and
- protecting working families from predatory and abusive financial services;
2. maximize the coordination of programs that affect working families and create an environment in which they can work together with greater effectiveness and impact;
3. work with charitable foundations, local government agencies, advocacy groups, community and religious leaders, academia, policy and research organizations, and other entities as may be appropriate, to carry out the purpose of the Task Force.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Urban
Goal: The goal of Planet Health is to reduce childhood obesity among middle school students using a school-based interdisciplinary intervention focused on decreasing television viewing and consumption of high-fat foods, and increasing fruit and vegetable intake and moderate and vigorous physical activity.
Impact: These results cumulatively show that Planet Health and similar programs can reduce obesity and increase healthy food consumption in girls. They also show that a finding of a reduction in number of hours watching TV for girls can also predict reduction in obesity.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural
Goal: The goal of POWER is to promote weight loss and glycemic control among individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes living in rural communities.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults, Women, Urban
Goal: The goal of the Prevention Care Management program is to increase cancer screening among women.
Impact: Prevention Care Management increased mammography rates, cervical cancer screening rates, and colorectal cancer screening rates among participating women.
Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Employment, Children, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban
Goal: PPL works with low-income individuals and families to achieve greater self-sufficiency through housing, employment training, support services, and education.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Adults
Goal: The PHLAME Study had four primary goals: (1) Increase physical activity to 30 minutes each day; (2) Reduce percent calories from fat to less than 30%; (3) Increase servings of fruits and vegetables to at least 5 per day; and (4) Improve energy balance and normalize body fat.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Women, Urban
Goal: The goal of the Real AIDS Prevention Project is to help women and their partners reduce their risk for HIV infection.
Impact: Community-level interventions may be an effective way to reach large numbers of women and change their condom-use behaviors, particularly their behaviors with regard to communication with main sex partners.