Promising Practices

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The "Lead Free Wheels" program has three goals:

- direct reduction of 6,000-7,500 kg of lead use on vehicles in Michigan and the Midwest;
- demonstrate the viability of lead-free wheel weight installation at Michigan tire retailers, state and municipal fleets and other points vehicle service and:
- encourage domestic production of lead-free wheel weights and a phase out of lead use in wheel weights.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of the program is to identify and follow underserved adult residents with undiagnosed or untreated high blood pressure, cholesterol or glucose, provide education to encourage healthy lifestyle changes and encourage them to seek treatment – anyone without a primary care physician is referred to a participating FQHC.

Impact: Among those participants who were followed over time and were able to be reached by phone, there were significant increases in healthy food consumption as well as significant decreases in smoking, fat consumption, and fast food frequency.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children

Goal: To prevent or delay the onset of underage alcohol and tobacco use by encouraging healthy beliefs and attitudes about abstaining from substance use and by enhancing critical thinking skills to transform students into active media consumers.

Impact: Students who participated in the Media Detective program displayed a greater understanding of media deconstruction skills and persuasive intent. They also had greater self-efficacy to refuse substances compared to students who did not participate in the program.

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Air

Goal: NCDC participants are committed to reducing diesel emissions and finding innovative ways to protect human health and the environment. To fully address the challenges of reducing diesel emissions the NCDC is using a multi-pronged approach:

- Commitment to the successful implementation of the 2007 Highway Engine Rule and the Clean Air Nonroad Diesel Rule.
- Developing new emissions standards for locomotive and marine diesel engines.
- Promoting the reduction of emissions for existing diesel engines through cost-effective and innovative strategies, including use of cleaner fuels, retrofitting and repairing existing fleets, idling reduction among others.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to help teens quit smoking.

Impact: One study showed that the percentage of students who reportedly quit smoking 15 months after the intervention was higher for participants. Another study showed that a greater percentage of participants reported smoking cessation 5 months after the intervention than non-participants.

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children

Goal: Florida started the drug court movement by creating the first treatment-based drug court in the nation in 1989. The drug court concept was developed in Dade County (Miami, Florida) stemming from a federal mandate to reduce the inmate population or suffer the loss of federal funding. The Supreme Court of Florida recognized the severity of the situation and directed Judge Herbert Klein to research the problem. Judge Klein determined that a large majority of criminal inmates had been incarcerated because of drug charges and were revolving back through the criminal justice system because of underlying problems of drug addiction. It was decided that the delivery of treatment services needed to be coupled with the criminal justice system and the need for strong judicial leadership and partnerships to bring treatment services and the criminal justice system together.

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: Partners in School Innovation enables public schools in high-poverty Bay Area communities to achieve educational equity through school-based reform.

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve academic success, behavior, and character development.

Impact: Multiple studies have consistently found PA effective for improving achievement scores, attendance, and self-concept and for reducing drug use, violence, and other problem behaviors. Results were often better in more disadvantaged schools.

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

Goal: The goal of Prime Time Palm Beach County is to improve the quality of school-age afterschool programs through assessment, guidance, and support.

Impact: Based on the 2009 study findings, Prime Time's Quality Improvement System resulted in improvements made to afterschool programs which enhanced quality programming and important developmental learning experiences for youth.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Older Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Project VIVA is to rapidly immunize hard-to-reach urban populations through a community-public health partnership.