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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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Walking School Bus (Houston, TX)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Urban

Goal: The goal of the "walking school bus" is to increase children's rates of active commuting to school and physical activity.

WalkSafe (Florida)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Public Safety, Children, Urban

Goal: The WalkSafe program was developed to improve pediatric pedestrian safety, increase physical activity levels by encouraging children to walk to and from school, and improve the walkability in and around elementary schools.

Wraparound Milwaukee (Milwaukee, WI)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Families, Urban

Goal: Managed through the Child and Adolescent Services Branch of the Milwaukee County Mental Health Division in Wisconsin, Wraparound Milwaukee attempts to meet the mental heath, substance abuse, social service, and other supportive needs of the most complex youths in the Milwaukee community.

Youth Work Together to Improve Community Conditions

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment

Goal: The goal of this initiative was to pinpoint community conditions that were detrimental to health in the Planada, California community.

Impact: The Student Education Empowerment Development Squad (SEEDS), with the help of the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program (CCROPP), addressed community issues through a youth-led process using Prevention Institute’s Tool for Health and Resilience in Vulnerable Environments (THRIVE).

300-Mile Club (Louisville, KY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle

Goal: The goal of this program is to encourage lifestyle changes that promote healthier living by promoting walking for exercise and educating participants about proper nutrition.

A Community Approach to Mosquito Control (Louisville, KY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce the mosquito population in Metro Louisville and subsequently reduce mosquito-borne disease transmission.

A Reason to Survive (ARTS) (San Diego, California)

Filed under Good Idea, Art & Recreation / Art, Children, Teens, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: ARTS is dedicated to healing, inspiring and empowering children facing life challenges by providing innovative arts-based programs, education and opportunities.

Adopt-A-Highway (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The goal of Adopt-A-Highway programs is to improve the appearance of roadsides and to reduce the annual cost of picking up litter on the highway system.

Adventure Diversion Program (Carroll County, MD)

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

Goal: The goal of the Adventure Diversion Program is to reduce the number of out-of-home placements for juveniles who have violated probation.

Aftercare Clinical Services (Kansas City, MO)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Women, Urban

Goal: The mission of Sheffield Place is "to empower homeless mothers and their children to heal from their trauma and help them become self-sufficient." The goal of the Aftercare program is to provide continuing supportive services once the families have transitioned from the residential program to permanent housing in the community. In this way, the families receive the support they need to maintain or increase income, maintain or improve mental health functioning, and maintain permanent housing.

Impact: This program provides vital supportive services for formerly-homeless families in recovery. Sheffield Place grew from serving just 20 families in 2010 to serving 132 families in 2017 (102 in residential and 30 in aftercare).

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.
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