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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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PACE+: Counseling Adolescents for Exercise and Nutrition (California)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Families

Goal: The goal of PACE+ for adolescents is to: decrease total dietary fat consumption; increase fruits & vegetable consumption; increase participation in moderate and vigorous physical activity; decrease sedentary habits among adolescents aged 11-15.

Parenting Management Training - The Oregon Model (PMTO) (Eugene, OR)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Families

Goal: The goal of this program is to teach effective parenting practices in order to promote healthy child adjustment.

Impact: Immediate changes for parents include improved positive parenting practices and reduced family coercion. Benefits to these parenting practices, in turn, have been found to result in reductions in child behavior problems and parental depression.

Partnership for a Tobacco-Free Maine (Maine)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Adults

Goal: The mission of the Partnership for a Tobacco-Free Maine is to reduce death and disability due to tobacco use.

Partnerships That Work: National Service and Business in Welfare to Work (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment, Teens, Families

Goal: This study addresses how to use national service to build effective welfare-to-work programs, and to encourage business collaborations. Two major suggestions are partnering with Employer Advisory Groups and generating national level support.

Peers Making Peace

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / School Environment, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve the school environment by reducing violence, assaults, discipline referrals, and increasing academic performance.

Impact: An evaluation found that discipline referrals decreased by 57.7%, assaults decreased by 90.2%, and expulsions decreased by 73.0% in participating schools.

Physical Activity and Teenage Health (PATH) Program (New York, NY)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of the PATH Program is to improve knowledge of cardiovascular health and reduce risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease.

Program to Encourage Active, Rewarding Lives for Seniors (PEARLS) (Washington)

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

Goal: The goal of the PEARLS program is to provide home-based counseling in order to manage and treat depression among older adults.

Programa de Manejo Personal de la Artritis (USA)

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

Goal: The goal of the Programa de Manejo Personal de la Artritis is to improve personal arthritis management among Spanish-speaking adults with arthritis.

Protocol for the Isolation and Quarantine of Communicable Disease (Rockland County, NY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases

Goal: The main objective of the Protocol is to provide a medicolegal framework for the protection of public health and safety in the face of emerging threats of infectious diseases and bioterrorism agents with due regard to a citizen's right to due process.

Providing Professional Clothing to Low-Income Men and Women (Fargo, ND)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Employment, Adults

Goal: Clothing & Connections' mission is to provide interview and career clothing, information, and referrals to clients in need as they pursue new opportunities for advancement in self-sufficiency. Clients are referred to Clothing & Connections by a group of non-profit member organizations, which include homeless shelters, domestic violence centers, job training programs, and self-sufficiency programs. Clients are fitted with clothing specific to the job they are applying for. In addition, Clothing & Connections offers mini-seminars on topics such as preparing for the job interview, making a positive first impression, and dressing for success on a limited budget.

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.