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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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Delaware Juvenile Drug Court Diversion Program (Delaware)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent further criminal behavior among first-time juvenile misdemeanor drug offenders.

Design for the Environment (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The goal of DfE is to facilitate the identification, adoption and innovation of clean products, processes, technologies, and management systems.

Diabetes Community Collaboration Program (Minnesota)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes

Goal: The goal of the DCCP is to improve diabetes care and education in Minnesota.

Diabetes Education for Tribal Schools (DETS) (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Children, Teens, Rural

Goal: The goal of DETS project is to increase the understanding and awareness of diabetes among American Indian and Native Alaskan students in kindergarten through high school through a combination of science lesson and traditional value.

Diamond Youth Shelter (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Adolescent Health, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: To provide emergency shelter to homeless or runaway youth aged 12 to 17.

Dining with Dignity (Kansas City, MO (Historic Northeast))

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Poverty, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: As a leader in Kansas City's emergency food network, ECS is committed to providing access to healthy food for the community's food-insecure households. Its mission is to engage the Episcopal and broader communities in feeding the hungry and empowering the poor to move beyond the barriers of poverty with dignity - in short, feeding the hungry & changing lives. ECS is best known for the Kansas City Community Kitchen (KCCK) in the heart of the urban food desert. ECS also works to provide meaningful training experience through the Culinary Cornerstones Training Program, a 30-week immersive program preparing individuals for careers in the culinary world.

Impact: Since implementing the new service model, there has been a 10% average increase in the number of daily meals served at the Kansas City Community Kitchen. There has also been a large increase of volunteers, with an increasing number of recurring volunteers.

Direct Instruction

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to maximize learning for all students.

Domestic Violence Emergency Response Teams for Zero Tolerance (DVERT/ZT) (Santa Barbara County, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Domestic Violence & Abuse, Families, Urban

Goal: The program works to counsel and assist domestic violence victims by providing them with information about available resources and services, as well as their legal and other options. They also offer medical assistance and emergency shelter, including transportation to the shelter. Through legal advocacy and education, DVERT teams work to reduce domestic violence in Santa Barbara County.

Domestic Violence Intervention Program (DVIP) (Cedar, Iowa, Johnson, and Washington Counties, IA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Domestic Violence & Abuse, Children, Women, Men, Families

Goal: The mission of the Domestic Violence Intervention Program is to end domestic violence through support, advocacy, shelter and education.

Dotwell for a Healthy Neighborhood (Dorchester, MA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Urban

Goal: The mission of DotWell is to guarantee high-quality clinical and community services across both sites—addressing health disparities, meeting the complex needs of a changing Dorchester community, and building social capital in and across neighborhoods.

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.