Promising Practices

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens

Goal: The mission of the ATHENA (Athletes Targeting Healthy Exercise & Nutrition Alternatives) program is to promote healthy sports nutrition and discourage the use of body-enhancing substances among middle and high school female athletes.

Impact: Participation in the ATHENA program results in significant reductions in the use of performance-enhancing substances, recreational drugs, diet pills, tobacco, and alcohol among female teen athletes. Healthier eating and other health behaviors, and body image perceptions were also improved.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens

Goal: The goal of ATLAS is to reduce anabolic steroid, alcohol, and other illicit drug use by adolescent male athletes.

Impact: Student participants of ATLAS had significantly lower intent to use anabolic steroids at both the end of the athletic season and at the 1-year follow-up. Students in the intervention also significantly reduced illicit drug use and were significantly less likely to report drinking and driving.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: Atlanta Streets Alive seeks to shift the current car-centric dynamic and replace it with a proactive community that comes together on a regular basis to participate in active transportation, physical activity, cultural and artistic endeavors, and to enjoy our neighborhoods and communities from a different perspective-from the street.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Children, Families

Goal: The goal of Baby, Be Safe is to increase the use of child injury prevention measures.

Impact: Participants who received tailored educational materials reported greater adoption of home and car safety behaviors than those receiving generic information. This study offers promising findings to help prevent injuries to young children.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Baltimore Healthy Carryout project was to increase healthy food options at carryout facilities and restaurants in Baltimore's low-income neighborhoods.

Impact: The BHC project reached 36.8% more customers during the intervention period than at baseline when comparing intervention carryouts to comparison carryouts. Customers reported purchasing specific foods due to the presence of a photo on the menu board (65.3%) or menu labeling (42.6%).

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Poverty, Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of Bank On San Francisco is to assist low-income San Franciscans in entering the financial mainstream by offering financial education, aide with opening bank accounts, and shaping helpful financial policies through partnerships with the San Francisco Treasurer's Office, local community organizations, and banks.

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Investment & Personal Finance, Urban

Goal: ABP accounts were designed to offer a safe, convenient, and inexpensive alternative to check-cashing and other high-cost alternative financial services.

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Investment & Personal Finance, Children

Goal: The mission of the Banking on Our Future (BOOF) program is to execute a global delivery system for financial education for youth ages 9-18 at no cost to school districts, with a focus on urban, under-served communities.

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Urban

Goal: The partnership uses a comprehensive strategy with four specific goals:

1. Carry out a multi-agency law enforcement (suppression) strategy to reduce gun-related and other violent crimes committed by youths 17 and older.
2. Operate an intensive intervention program to reduce the risk factors for the highest risk youths, their families, and the community.
3. Mobilize the community at the grassroots level to address the problems of hard-to-reach families and the highest risk youths.
4. Operate a long-range prevention program that identifies, links, and strengthens existing resources to serve youths who may be at risk.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Food Safety, Children, Teens, Adults, Families

Goal: The goal of Be Food Safe is to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness by instructing consumers in proper procedures for handling and preparing food.