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.

Submit a Promising Practice

Coded Text Messages for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Results (Clay, FL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Teens, Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of the program is to reduce the spread of STDs/STIs in high risk populations under 25 years old by decreasing the length of time from diagnosis to treatment.

Community Voice: Taking it to the People (Lynchburg, VA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the program is to decrease African American infant mortality through raising awareness of racial health disparities, encouraging safe and healthy lifestyle practices, and providing correct perinatal health education.

Community-based Exposure Study and Development of a Community-First Communication Model (San Francisco)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants, Rural

Goal: The goal of this study was to address the health effects of PFOA pollution, with a strong desire to implement a community-driven communication strategy to communicate the study results.

Cradle Kansas City

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families

Goal: Cradle Kansas City only has one goal, to close the health equity gap. By doing this, they will impact premature birth and infant and maternal mortality. They accomplish this through partnerships medical systems, resident-built strategies, and clear messaging that is aimed at systemic change.

Earn-A-Bike Boulder, Colorado (Boulder, CO)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Transportation, Children, Adults, Urban

Goal: The mission of Earn-A-Bike is to educate and advocate the safe use of refurbished bicycles as affordable transportation.

Eat Well, Play Hard (Elyria, OH)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle, Children

Goal: The goals of this program are to increase developmentally appropriate physical activity, to increase the consumption of fruit and vegetables by children, and to increase the consumption of low-fat milk products and calcium-rich foods. The long-range goal is to incorporate this theme into the life of Lorain County children through collaboration with schools, agencies and facilities that provide services and activities for children and their families.

Family Peer Support (Hamilton County, Ohio)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Poverty, Adults, Women, Men, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Family Peer Support program is to increase family economic and social self-sufficiency, and to connect parents to needed physical health, behavior health, and educational resources for their child. Family peer support programs generally focus on fostering encouragement of personal responsibility and self-determination, improving family health and wellness, and supporting engagement and communication with providers and systems of care. Research shows that peer support programs promote empowerment and self-esteem, self-management, engagement and social inclusion, as well as improving the social networks of families who receive these services. Research evidence qualifies peer support services as evidence-based through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality guidelines.

Salzer MS, Schwenk E, Brusilovskiy E: Certified peer specialist roles and activities: results from a national survey. Psychiatric Services 61:520–523, 2010.
Repper J, Carter T: A review of the literature on peer support in mental health services. Journal of Mental Health 20: 392–411, 2011.
Cook JA: Peer-delivered wellness recovery services: from evidence to widespread implementation. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal 35:87–89, 2011

Fit Kids/Fit Families (Wisconsin)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children

Goal: To improve children's nutritional status, increase their activity level, enhance their self-esteem, and create life-long health habits by using a multidisciplinary, community- and family-based system approach, and by engaging local health care professionals with community agencies.

Impact: The Fit Kids/Fit Families program shows that multidisciplinary, community- and family-based approaches to children's exercise, weight, & nutrition can have an effect on healthier nutritional choices, increased physical activity, decreased sedentary activity, healthier behaviors, and BMI reductions.

Flex Your Power Case Study: North Tahoe Public Utilities District (PUD) (Placer County, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability

Goal: The goal of this project was to provide a safe fresh-water supply in an efficient manner.

Flex Your Power Case Study: Patterson Irrigation District (Stanislaus County, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants, Rural

Goal: The goal of this project was to reduce electricity usage by 10-20 percent.

An Effective Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

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.
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:

The program description includes: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program funding source, program implementation steps and outcomes.
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:

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.
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.
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.