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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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Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (Sacramento, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP) is to increase safe traffic practices in Sacramento's neighborhoods by reducing the impacts from speeding vehicles and careless drivers on residential streets.

New Mexico School-Based Dental Sealant Program (New Mexico)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children

Goal: The goal of the New Mexico School-Based Dental Sealant Program is to provide oral health education, dental screenings, and dental sealants.

North Carolina Graduation Project (North Carolina)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens

Goal: The mission is to provide a multi-disciplinary program that prepares students for 21st century careers by giving them community based involvement. The hope of this project is for the students to connect content knowledge, acquired skills, and work habits to real world situations and issues.

Northern Michigan Diabetes Initiative (Northwest Lower Michigan)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Children, Teens, Adults, Rural

Goal: The overall goal is to reduce the prevalence of diabetes and improve the care of people with diabetes.

NYC WasteLe$$ (New York, NY)

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

Goal: The goal of NYC WasteLe$$ is to promote waste prevention at businesses, agencies, schools, and at home.

Oakland Beat Health Program (Oakland, CA)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce drug and disorder problems in Oakland, California.

Oakland Pedestrian Safety Project: Walk Oakland! (Oakland, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Public Safety, Children, Adults, Families

Goal: To prevent pedestrian deaths and injuries in Oakland, California.

Oakland Victim–Offender Reconciliation Program (Oakland, CA)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to foster dialog, negotiation, and problem solving between offenders and victims in Oakland.

Pets for Life (Kansas City Metropolitan Area)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: The purpose of Pets for Life, Inc. is to enhance the care and treatment of people in local hospitals, nursing homes, domestic violence shelters, mental health programs, youth treatment centers, corrections facilities, and hospices through the use of certified therapy teams of pets and volunteers.

Impact: The benefits of pet/volunteer visits to people in the community include increased emotional/sociological well being of these individuals and positive physiological changes.

Playworks (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / School Environment, Children

Goal: The mission of Playworks is to improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

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.