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 / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The goal of Healthy U is to work with several community groups to provide healthy snacks as well as education on nutrition and fitness to students and their families at University Academy.
Impact: The percentage of screened students who were overweight fell from 45.9% in the 2011-2012 school year to 36.9% in the 2011-2012 school year. Over 75% of participants in both Teen Eats and Family Dinners demonstrated a positive behavior change.
Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes
Goal: Horizon House believes homeless guests possess strengths that are key to ending their homelessness, and states its mission is "to be a focal point for services and assistance to empower individuals and families to no longer be homeless."
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The goal of the Hospital Diversion Initiative is to connect individuals who chronically utilize the inpatient and emergency rooms with outpatient care.
Impact: After three months in the program, participants showed a 66% reduction in ER visits, 68% reduction in inpatient hospital stays, a 72% decrease in homelessness, an 18% reduction in unemployment, and a 66% decrease in past 30 day arrests. More than 350 individuals have been served so far.
Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Housing & Homes
Goal: The goal of this experiment is to estimate the effects of New York’s plan for supportive housing for high-need, high-cost Medicaid recipients.
Impact: Placing people who are homeless in supportive affordable housing paired with supportive services such as on-site case management and referrals to community-based services can lead to improved health, reduced hospital use, and decreased health care costs.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Adults, Families
Goal: The goal of the HOPWA program is to help families pay housing expenses so that they are not displaced due to costs and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The goal of How to Cope is to help adults impacted by a loved one's substance abuse create a balanced and healthy life, even if their loved one continues to abuse substances.
Impact: Over 100 adults impacted by a loved one's addiction to alcohol or drugs participated in How to Cope in 2013, with 87% showing increased knowledge of the harmful effects and other drugs and 100% completing an action plan.
Huesos Fuertes, Familia Saludable (Strong Bones, Healthy Family): California Bone Health Campaign (California)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Women, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The goal of the CBHC is to increase the consumption of 1% (low-fat) milk in order to prevent osteoporosis among low-income Latino mothers.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults, Women, Older Adults, Rural
Goal: The goal of this program is to decrease fatalism and increase participation in colorectal cancer screening among African American women.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Women's Health, Women
Goal: The goal of Insights is to increase condom use among young women at risk for HIV and other STDs.
Impact: Insights proves that tailored cognitive/behavioral minimal self-help interventions hold promise as HIV/STD prevention strategies for diverse populations of young at-risk women.
Intervention Mapping and the Development of a Peer Supported Diabetes Self-Management Program in Rural Alabama (Alabama)
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Teens, Older Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural
Goal: The intervention is a diabetes self-management program that utilizes peer advisers to reach patients who have poor health literacy, are physically isolated, and require assistance with managing their diabetes.