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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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Youth Opportunity Baltimore (Baltimore, MD)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Urban

Goal: YO! Baltimore helps young people, previously disconnected from traditional learning environments, to increase their wage earnings and education credentials.

Youth Suicide Public Service Announcement (PSA) (Suburban Chicago)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: Community Memorial Foundation's goal was two-fold: to decrease stigma surrounding youth depression and suicide and increase teen utilization of the Crisis Text Line.

Impact: An awareness campaign that incorporates age- and culturally-appropriate actors through various media can successfully increase teen and adolescent usage of a crisis text hotline.

Youth Villages YVLifeSet

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Teens

Goal: Youth Villages helps children and families live successfully.

Youth with Disabilities Demonstration Project (Seattle, WA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment

Goal: The overall objective of the project was to identify and provide additional support and services to those youth, ages 14-21 enrolled in WIA-supported youth programs with mental health care needs.

Maine Juvenile Drug Treatment Court (Maine)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve the quality of juvenile justice in Maine through timely and effective substance abuse, social services, and juvenile justice interventions.

Elders Living at Home Program (ELAHP) (Boston, MA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Older Adults

Goal: The mission of the Elders Living At Home Program is to support elders in making the transition out of homeless, to provide supportive services that build on the individual abilities of elders and to help them overcome the barriers to permanent housing.

The Palmetto Health District: Promoting Healthy Congregations Project (South Carolina)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this program is to help prevent cardiovascular disease through education and interventions.

Building Community Supports for Diabetes (Galveston County, TX)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The goal of the program was to improve the health outcomes of people with type 2 diabetes by training community coaches to teach effective self-care.

Children's National Food Allergy School Nurse Education Program (Washington, DC)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens

Goal: The Children's National Food Allergy School Nurse Education Program seeks to increase knowledge about childhood food allergy through a standardized educational curriculum.

Impact: The Children's National Food Allergy School Nurse Education Program significantly increased the percent of nurses in the District of Columbia who believed students were teased or bullied due to food allergy and felt food allergy was a serious health concern for which schools should have guidelines.

Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing (Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New Y)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Children, Teens, Adults, Rural

Goal: The goal of MTO was to impact behavior and lifestyle choices by changing neighborhood environments.

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.