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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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Water First (Lexington, KY)

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

Goal: Water First aims to reduce the sugary beverage intake and increase water intake in tweens through an educational website for tweens and their parents, and promotion in the community.

WIC Community Garden (Johnson County, KS)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Women, Families

Goal: The goal of the WIC Community Garden is to educate, empower and feed the families in the Kansas WIC program, creating a healthier community.

Impact: In a three-month period, 356.8 pounds of fresh vegetables were given to WIC families.

WomenVenture (Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: WomenVenture helps women of all ages, cultures, races and income levels achieve economic success.

YMCA Diabetes Support Group (Jacksonville, FL)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Urban

Goal: The Diabetes Support Group provides ongoing education and support to those living with, at risk for, or affected by diabetes in the community.

YMCA's Diabetes Prevention Program (Northeast Florida counties)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Adults

Goal: The goal is for participants to lose seven percent of their body weight and increase their physical activity to 150 minutes per week in order to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Cancer Screening Office Systems (Cancer SOS) (Hillsborough County, FL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the Cancer SOS provider education program is to increase cancer screening in primary care settings serving disadvantaged populations.

Community Nursing Program (Indiana (northeast))

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Children, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: This initiative strives to alleviate nursing shortages in underserved areas.

Early Intervention in Reading

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve reading skills for elementary school students.

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.