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, Health / Children's Health, Children, Urban
Goal: The primary goal of the ‘Switch-Play’ promising practice was to develop and test three approaches towards the achievement of healthy weight maintenance among 10-year-old children: (1) through reducing the time spent in sedentary behaviors (e.g. TV viewing, playing electronic games and recreational computer use); (2) through increasing skills and enjoyment of physical activity; or (3) through a combination of these two strategies.
Impact: Children participating in the behavioral modification and motor skills development components of Switch-Play had improved BMI.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Urban
Goal: The goal of this program is to educate syringe users about access to clean syringes and proper medical waste disposal and to provide sharps containers and disposal sites to syringe users.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults
Goal: The goal of the program is to provide seniors a form of movement that will enhance their confidence and balance in daily activities.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health, Teens, Urban
Goal: To enable teens from disadvantaged circumstances to develop healthy behaviors, life skills, and a sense of purpose in order to prevent problem behaviors.
Impact: This program equips teens to better develop healthy behaviors and relationships,
develop life and leadership skills, and achieve educational
success.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Adults, Urban
Goal: The mission of The Key Clubhouse is to afford people who have been disrupted by mental illness the opportunity to recover meaningful and productive lives through reintegration in the workplace and the community.
Impact: Individuals who participate in a Clubhouse program have been found to have higher rates of employment, reduced hospitalization, reduced incarceration, and improved well-being as compared with other mental health programs.
Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants
Goal: TLD's mission is to increase the supply and use of affordable building materials for housing and community improvement by redirecting landfill-bound, reusable materials into productive use.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Civic Engagement, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The mission of Asistencia para Latinos is to empower the Latino community towards self-sufficiency through service, education, advocacy, and inter-agency collaboration. The Winds of Change is a movement developed by Asistencia para Latinos to address the issues of cultural isolation and language barriers presented by the new population of immigrants coming to the rural resort areas of Colorado.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens
Goal: This program is designed to reduce students' intentions to use alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs.
Impact: Studies show that the program significantly reduces the proportion of students with intentions to drink alcohol and smoke. Participants also showed significantly increased use of personal and social skills, increased engagement in prosocial behaviors, and decreased engagement in inappropriate social behaviors.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Urban
Goal: Isles, Inc., is a nationally recognized nonprofit community development and environmental organization with the mission to foster more self-reliant families in healthy, sustainable communities. Through their Urban Brownfields program, Isles works to create a deeper understanding of the health and environmental conditions in Trenton.