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 Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The goal of the program is to train non-dental health and childcare professionals in dental disease screening and dental referrals for children.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Families
Goal: To prepare children of disadvantaged families for academic success and to strengthen families through intensive home visiting.
Impact: When families are engaged in facilitated discussion, the participating families tend to talk more, read more, and have more positive interactions with their children. They engage in more educational activities at home and in their communities.
Peers Reaching Out and Modeling Intervention Strategies (PROMISE) (Texas, Colorado, California, New York, Washington)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Urban
Goal: The goal of Community PROMISE is to encourage HIV prevention practices.
Impact: PROMISE leads to significant community-wide progress toward consistent HIV risk reduction.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Teens
Goal: The Penn Resiliency Program is a depression prevention program that seeks to reduce the longevity of symptoms exhibited and the severity of symptoms at onset of depression, through cognitive-behavioral therapy and problem-solving techniques.
Impact: The Penn Resiliency program shows that a group-based program seeking to prevent the initial onset of and decrease the exacerbation of depression children and teens by incorporating specific coping and problem-solving skills can reduce depressive symptoms over time.
Filed under Good Idea, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children
Goal: To create confident, literate students equipped with a variety of tools for written, verbal, and artistic expression and to improve the relevance and effectiveness of in-school learning.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Children
Goal: The program is designed to empower 6-8th grade students across the region with the knowledge that their everyday choices do make a difference. The program aims to influence how middle school students and their families think about and use natural resources in their daily lives.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent and control depression among children.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality
Goal: Project Access Durham County seeks to provide comprehensive healthcare to low-income, uninsured individuals residing in the county for at least six months.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / School Environment, Children, Teens
Goal: Project ACHIEVE's ultimate goal is to help design and implement effective school and schooling processes to maximize the academic and social/emotional/behavioral progress and achievement of all students.
Filed under Good Idea, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Urban
Goal: The mission of Project GRAD is to provide quality public school education for at-risk children in low-income communities and to increase high school and college graduation rates among these populations.