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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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A Population Health Approach to Clinical Social Work with Complex Patients in Primary Care (Portland, Maine)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Other Conditions

Goal: Patients with the highest medical and social vulnerability require a population-specific social work intervention in primary care to achieve positive medical outcomes and to decrease inefficient use of services, especially inpatient admissions and ED visits.

Impact: The study exhibits promise in decreasing inpatient visits and cost. The evidence also supports population-specific social work interventions integrated in primary care.

Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program (USA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Other Conditions, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program is to increase joint flexibility, range of motion, and muscle strength among individuals with arthritis.

Better Choices, Better Health (USA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Other Conditions, Adults, Older Adults

Goal: Better Choices, Better HealthTM gives people with chronic conditions the skills to coordinate all the things needed to manage their heath, as well as to help them keep active in their lives.

Chicago Housing Health Partnership (Cook)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Chicago Housing Health Partnership is to use tailored case management to place chronically medically ill homeless individuals in stable, long-term housing and facilitate access to medical services.

Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (USA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of the CDSMP is to improve personal management of chronic disease.

Countywide Concussion Program (Miami Concussion Model) (Miami-Dade County, FL)

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

Goal: The goals of the MCM are to provide a comprehensive and centralized concussion care program to 1) increase concussion awareness and identification through education and training; 2) facilitate the return to play decision with effective medical treatment, which includes baseline neurocognitive testing; and 3) implement a standardized concussion care protocol and concussion injury surveillance system to assist in the prevention of concussions, improve player safety, and limit school liability.

Impact: From the pilot evaluation of the model it was determined that the MCM model or a similarly designed one is effective in increasing the number of concussions identified, reported, and also treated at a clinic.

Fit & Strong! (USA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of the Fit and Strong! program is to improve function among older adults with osteoarthritis.

Health Care and Public Service Use and Costs Before and After Provision of Housing for Chronically Homeless Persons With Severe Alcohol Problems

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: To evaluate the association of a “Housing First” intervention for chronically homeless individuals with severe alcohol problems with health care use and costs.

Impact: Total cost offsets for Housing First participants relative to controls averaged $2449 per person per month after accounting for housing program costs.

Healthier Living with Arthritis Online Workshop (USA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Other Conditions, Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The program is focused on reduction of pain and improvement of function for arthritis patients unable or unwilling to attend small group ASMPs, which have proven effective in changing health-related behaviors and improving health status measures.

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.

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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