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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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Support Healthy Active Kids in Education (SHAKE) (Sonoma, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children

Goal: The goal of the SHAKE program is to use elementary school-based programming to promote childhood health and fitness.

Sustainable Rain (Seattle)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Urban

Goal: The goal of Sustainable Rain is to create opportunities for businesses to lead a tangible sustainable landscape project, as well as to increase community awareness of sustainability.

Sustainable Skylines Kansas City (Kansas City)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Air, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Sustainable Skylines Initiative (SSI) is to achieve measurable emissions reductions and promote sustainability in urban environments within three years of implementation.

Switch What You Do, View, and Chew (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children

Goal: To increase healthy lifestyles in children ages 8-10 years old by increasing physical activity and vegetable and fruit consumption and decreasing time spent in front of the television in order to prevent childhood obesity.

Targeting the Taqueria - Steps To A Healthier Salinas (Salinas)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: To partner with local Mexican taqueria restaurants to promote healthy food options

The Arthritis Self-Management Program (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Other Conditions, Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The Arthritis Self-Management Program is a group workshop that educates individuals with rheumatic diseases on techniques to help them manage their disease and live more active lives.

The Backyard Initiative (Minneapolis, MN)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Prevention & Safety, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Backyard Initiative is to improve health and health care.

The Berkeley Charleston Dorchester Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan (Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester, SC)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Transportation

Goal: The Berkeley Charleston Dorchester Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan is based on three principles:

(1) Children should be able to safely walk and bike to school if they and their parents so choose.

(2) Roadways should equally accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists.

(3) Bicycling and walking should become a routine part of daily activity in the BCD region.

The City of Chula Vista's CO2 Reduction Plan (Chula Vista, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Urban

Goal: The CO2 Reduction Plan was officially adopted by the Chula Vista City Council in November 2002 and aims to reduce CO2 emissions to 80% of 1990 levels by the year 2010. Specific action measures include:

- Municipal clean fuel vehicle purchases
- Green power use and public education program
- Telecommuting and telecenters
- Enhanced pedestrian connections and increased housing and employment density near transit
- Bicycle lanes, paths, and routes
- Energy efficient landscaping
- Solar pool heating
- Traffic signal and system upgrades

The Food Trust (USA)

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

Goal: The Food Trust's mission is to ensure that everyone have access to affordable, nutritious food by providing nutrition education and greater availability of affordable, healthy food.

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.
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