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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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Marin County Safe Routes to Schools (Marin)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Safe Routes to School program is to improve safety and encourage more children to safely walk and bicycle to school. In addition, the programs work toward reducing traffic congestion and improving health and the environment.

Nutrition Education for Families with Financial Problems (The Netherlands)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Families

Goal: To increase dietary variety, decrease the intake of saturated fat and increase the intake of vegetables during the main meal among families with financial problems.

Open Meadow Alternative School (Portland, OR)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Teens

Goal: The goals of the Open Meadow program are 1) to re-engage high risk youth so they will complete their education; and 2) to connect high risk youth to their community in a positive way.

Osteofit (Canada)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Older Adults, Adults

Goal: To reduce and prevent falls in people with osteoporosis and osteopenia through exercise and education.

Pediatric Weight Control Program (Palo Alto)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health

Goal: The goals of the Packard Pediatric Weight Control Program are to (1) help children improve their eating and exercise habits; (2) create a balanced diet; and (3) help participating children maintain or gradually lose weight.

Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Families

Goal: The goal of this program is to promote positive marital relationships and to prevent marital problems.

Project COFFEE (Co-Operative Federation for Educational Experiences) (Oxford, MA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of the program is to prevent school dropout by providing services addressing students' academic, social, emotional, and occupational needs.

Project Graduation Really Achieves Dreams (GRAD) (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Urban

Goal: The mission of Project GRAD is to provide quality public school education for at-risk children in low-income communities and to increase high school and college graduation rates among these populations.

Project Search (Cincinnati)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Disabilities, Teens, Adults

Goal: Project Search aims to engage an underutilized workforce of individuals with significant disabilities while addressing employer human resource needs that ultimately benefits individuals, organizations, and the community.

Routz (San Francisco, CA)

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

Goal: To provide housing to homeless youth aged 18 to 24 and provide comprehensive behavioral health services.

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.