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, Education / Student Performance K-12, Teens
Goal: The goal of this program is to improve academic performance, reduce substance abuse, and reduce school failure among middle and high school students.
Filed under Good Idea, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to promote positive youth development and to help youth gain valuable work experience.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity
Goal: The goal of this program is to promote healthy eating in lower-income areas of Louiville. The initiative is part of a larger program with the goal of redesigning low-income urban neighborhoods to promote active living.
Addressing the Social Determinants of Health through the Alameda County, California, Place Matters Policy Initiative (Alameda County, CA)
Filed under Good Idea, Health, Urban
Goal: The goal of the Place Matters initiative is to improve the health of participating communities by “addressing social conditions that lead to poor health” through “identifying the complex root causes of health disparities and defining strategies to address them.”
Impact: AC Place Matters has identified 10 best practices that could help other programs address social determinants of health: find and foster strong leadership, dedicate staff resources to the work, engage staff from across the local health department, contribute to building grassroots power, address root causes, partner with community organizations and leaders, partner with government institutions across sectors, work reactively and proactively, build capacity, and use tools that ensure a focus on health equity.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce depression symptoms among adolescents.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Teens, Urban
Goal: The goal of Adolescents Living Safely is to prevent HIV infection and AIDS among runaway adolescents.
Impact: Adolescents Living Safely changes youth sexual behavior to reduce transmission of HIV among runaways.
Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants
Goal: The goal of Adopt-A-Highway programs is to improve the appearance of roadsides and to reduce the annual cost of picking up litter on the highway system.
Filed under Good Idea, Education / Literacy
Goal: The goal of this program is to provide literacy skills and other basic skills to the most educationally and economically disadvantaged individuals in the state.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The goal of Advancing Diabetes Self Management at La Clinica de La Raza was to improve health outcomes of those suffering from type 2 diabetes.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Women, Urban
Goal: The mission of Sheffield Place is "to empower homeless mothers and their children to heal from their trauma and help them become self-sufficient." The goal of the Aftercare program is to provide continuing supportive services once the families have transitioned from the residential program to permanent housing in the community. In this way, the families receive the support they need to maintain or increase income, maintain or improve mental health functioning, and maintain permanent housing.
Impact: This program provides vital supportive services for formerly-homeless families in recovery. Sheffield Place grew from serving just 20 families in 2010 to serving 132 families in 2017 (102 in residential and 30 in aftercare).