Home > Promising Practices

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.

Submit a Promising Practice

Search Filters Clear all
(1763 results)

Save a link to this search

Ranking
Featured
Primary Target Audience
Topics and Subtopics
Geographic Type
Search

EPA's Clean Water Act Recognition Awards (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The objectives of the program are to educate the public about the contributions that publicly-owned wastewater treatment facilities make to clean water; to encourage public support for municipal and industrial efforts in effective wastewater management, biosolids management, and wet weather pollution control; and to recognize communities that go much beyond the minimum needed to meet Clean Water Act requirements.

Every Little Step Counts (Phoenix, AZ)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: To create a culturally appropriate healthy lifestyle educational program for Latino adolescents at highest risk for Type 2 Diabetes.

Impact: The promising findings of this program suggest that a community-based diabetes prevention program for obese Latino youth is a feasible strategy for improving health in this high-risk population.

Fall Prevention (Dickinson County, Kansas)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Rural

Goal: To reduce the risk of falls among residents over 65 years of age through education in fall awareness and prevention.

Impact: After the program, participants spoke with healthcare providers regarding dizziness and medication side effects, scheduled overdue eye exams, and implemented home safety ideas to reduce the risk of falling.

Families And Schools Together (FAST) (USA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Adults

Goal: The overall goal of the FAST program is to intervene early to help at-risk youth succeed in the community, at home, and in school and thus avoid problems such as adolescent delinquency, violence, addiction, and dropping out of school.

Impact: FAST has generally improved aggressive behaviors and increased positive behaviors amongst participants as reported by teachers and parents.

Families in Action (Kennesaw, GA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Rural

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent substance abuse among youth.

FAmily-CEntered (FACE) Advance Care Planning (Washington, D.C.)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Teens, Adults, Families

Goal: The goal of FACE-ACP is to give adolescents and adults living with a serious medical condition a voice by facilitating conversations between patients and their caregivers so they can achieve their goals and match medical treatment to their goals.

Farm 2 School Lunch Program (Kansas and Missouri)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children

Goal: The goal of the Farm 2 School program is to improve the health and wellbeing of school-aged children and prevent childhood obesity by providing healthy, seasonal, and locally grown meals to children at school.

Fast Track (USA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Teens

Goal: The main goals of this program are to increase communication and bonds between and among the three domains of school, home, and the individual; to enhance children's social, cognitive, and problem-solving skills; to improve peer relationships; and ultimately to decrease disruptive behavior at home and in school.

Feed The Hungry (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: Feed The Hungry aims to fill your body and soul with a nourishing meal in an atmosphere of respect, acceptance and love.

Fight BAC! (Hartford, CT)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Food Safety, Children, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the Fight BAC! campaign is to educate the public about four basic practices - clean, separate, cook and chill - that reduce the risk of foodborne illness.

Impact: The study showed that culturally competent, social marketing campaigns are likely to improve awareness, knowledge, and attitudes around food safety among Latino consumers.

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.
Lakelands Counts