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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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Colorado on the Move (Colorado)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this program is to increase participants' physical activity.

Communities Caring for Children (Minnesota)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Children, Rural

Goal: The goal of Communities Caring for Children is to increase the number of infants and children who receive immunizations on schedule.

Communities Supporting Breastfeeding (Kansas)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Families

Goal: The purpose of the Community Supporting Breastfeeding (CSB) designation program is to create a culture of breastfeeding support in communities, ultimately increasing breastfeeding initiation and duration rates and the health and well-being of families.

The CSB program’s immediate goals are to increase positive perceptions toward breastfeeding, increase the availability of breastfeeding resources, and reduce barriers experienced in the community by women of child-bearing age. The long-term goal of the project is to increase exclusive breastfeeding rates through a sustainable model of cross-sector support for breastfeeding.

The project also effectively addresses the racial and socioeconomic disparities in breastfeeding rates. The Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition’s collective impact approach supports efforts of those serving African-American and lower income women. As a result of this project, these organizations receive the support they need to increase their impact when they become aligned with other, larger organizations working toward similar goals, creating a synergy across groups working on breastfeeding support.

Impact: Based on results from our evaluation, along with improved exclusive breastfeeding rates in the majority of the communities that could be associated with the CSB criteria, we believe the CSB program is impactful.

Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The clear goal of CARE is to foster projects that will become self-sustaining and use CARE funding as seed money. The CARE Process is designed to encourage communities to enlist the support of project partners that will enable the project to continue even without EPA resources. Rather than supporting one time projects, CARE will support community partnerships that will endure and provide environmental benefits long into the future.

Community Mental Health System

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

Goal: CredibleMind helps surface resources with scientific validity to empower community members to take control of their mental health and spiritual well-being.

Impact: CredibleMind is available to the public and is also available as a customizable solution for community coalitions, health departments, hospitals, health plans, employers and other professional organizations to connect users to local services and resources.

Community Outreach Addictions Team

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Adults

Goal: To reduce the number of heroin overdose deaths in the community and to provide immediate peer support to those in crisis.

Impact: COAT peers counselors are able to provide immediate response and support to help individuals achieve long-term recovery.

Community Planning Program (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Community Planning Program is to provide underserved communities with the tools and support they need to be able to shape equitable, safe, and vibrant neighborhoods throughout San Francisco, CA.

Comprehensive Approaches to Raising Education Standards (CARES) (California)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Adults

Goal: The program's mission is to improve the quality of early learning programs by focusing on increasing the quality, effectiveness, and retention of early educators.

Connecticut's Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (Connecticut)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Cancer, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this program is to use peer communication to improve access to potentially lifesaving early detection services.

Cooks for Kids (Mississippi)

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

Goal: Cook for Kids aims to improve nutrition at school, home, and restaurants by showcasing innovative school nutrition programs, healthful foods, and cooking techniques.

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.