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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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Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility (Los Angeles)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: SMURRF aims to mitigate the pollution affecting Santa Monica Bay from urban runoff and raise public awareness of Santa Monica Bay pollution. We have reviewed the SMURRF system and began an investigation of installing a RO system to produce potable water in the coming years. This goal is to contribute to the city’s new sustainable master water plan to become self-reliant on local water by 2020

Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide parents with the necessary skills to improve their parent/child communication and overall family functioning.

Impact: STEP has been implemented in more than 1,000 schools, agencies, churches, and mental health treatment facilities since 1976, reaching more than 4 million parents. Outside the US, STEP has been implemented in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Romania, and South Korea.

Tai Chi -- Moving for Better Balance

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

Goal: To use tai chi exercise to improve balance and decrease incidence of falls among older adults.

Impact: The program shows that ta chi can significantly improve health-related outcome measures in older adults and such a program can be practically and effectively implemented and maintained in community settings.

The Bridge Model of Transitional Care

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Older Adults, Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of The Bridge Model of Transitional Care is to help aging adults transition from the hospital back to their homes and communities safely.

Impact: The Bridge Model of Transitional Care can help lower hospital re-admission rates as well as improve primary care engagement 30 days after being discharged from the hospital.

The Guided Care Model

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Older Adults, Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The Guided Care Model aims to better health outcomes and reduce spending for aging adults with multiple chronic conditions.

Impact: The Guided Care Model has been shown to improve quality of care and reduce the use of home health care.

The Montana Model (Yellowstone County, MT)

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

Goal: The aim of the Montana Model is to provide health care to the 11 percent of the county citizens living below the federal poverty level and the many more living in near poverty, while simultaneously providing a medical clinic with diversity and complexity for family practice residents to obtain enriched training with the public health perspective.

Women On the Move through Activity And Nutrition (WOMAN) Study (Pittsburgh)

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

Goal: The goal of the WOMAN Study is to reduce the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis by reducing weight and waist circumference through dietary changes and physical activity.

A Matter of Balance (Clay and Platte Counties, MO)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The goals of the program are to help participants learn how to view falls and the fear of falling as controllable, set realistic goals for increasing activity, change their environment to reduce fall risk factors, and exercise to increase strength and balance.

Impact: After completing the program, 97% of participants are more comfortable in talking about falls, 95% have made environmental changes, and 99.5% plan to continue exercising.

Advancing Diabetes Self Management: La Clinica de La Raza (Oakland, CA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Advancing Diabetes Self Management at La Clinica de La Raza was to improve health outcomes of those suffering from type 2 diabetes.

BirthMatters (Spartanburg and Cherokee County, SC)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Teens, Women, Families

Goal: The mission of BirthMatters is to provide community-based doula services to vulnerable mothers in need of pregnancy and birth support. The program aims to increase breastfeeding rates and decrease cesarean (c-section) rates among young, low-income mothers.

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.