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.
Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Families
Currently, the average U.S. family spends nearly $1,300 a year on energy bills, with much of that energy being wasted due to air leaks, inefficient appliances, and a general lack of attention to this important issue. The Community Associations Institute (CAI) and the Department of Energy (DOE) are dedicated to educating the community association industry--and the significant portion of the U.S. population it represents--on the many ways to increase the energy efficiency of their homes, and thereby reduce both energy consumption and costs.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Adults, Women, Men, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The Changing Children’s Worlds Foundation (CCWF) mission is for every child and adolescent to be supported in positive development by caregivers and professionals within loving, non-violent families and peaceful communities. Through parent groups and educational workshops we strive to promote a sense of community and foster empathy.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Diabetes, Children, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The objectives of Bienestar are to decrease dietary saturated fat intake, increase dietary fiber intake, and increase physical activity among low-income Mexican-American elementary and middle school children.
The Bienestar Health Program statistically significantly increases fitness scores and dietary fiber intakes levels among low-income, Mexican-American fourth-graders. A second randomized control trial conducted from 6th to 8th grade showed reductions in various indexes of adiposity.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults, Urban
The goal of Bingocize is to improve mobility, balance, and ADL's in older adult populations.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Teens, Women, Families
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.
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Civic Engagement, Children, Families
The mission of the Blessings in a Backpack program is to help meet the nutritional needs of children by providing weekend meals for children and generating public awareness on the issue of child hunger.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Teens
To significantly reduce depressive symptoms and to reduce the rates of future major depressive disorder onset among adolescents.
The Blues Program has been shown to decrease depressive symptoms, decrease rates of major depression onset, decrease rates of substance use, and increase factors that are protective against depression.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Women
The Body Project is a dissonance intervention designed to help women in high school and college resist societal and cultural pressures to conform to an idealized notion of what it means to be 'thin' and to help increase body acceptance. A reduction in thin-ideal internalization should result in reduced use of unhealthy weight-control behaviors, decreased eating disorder symptoms, and overall increase in mood and well-being.
The Body Project program has yielded numerous significant benefits at posttest and 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years after program implementation. These include significant reductions in body dissatisfaction, bulimic symptoms and psychosocial impairment compared to control group participants.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Rural
The goal of the Bootheel Heart Health Project was to reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease and decrease morbidity and mortality due to cardiovascular disease.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Teens
The goal of this program is to reduce public health and safety problems related to U.S. teen & binge drinking in Mexico.
With IPS leadership, there was a reduction in youth nighttime crashes by 45% and 37% fewer nighttime crossers with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or higher.