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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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Teens on Target (TNT) (Oakland, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: Program goals include educating and training young people from some of the most life-threatening neighborhoods of Oakland to enable them to participate in making their lives, their neighborhoods, and their communities safer and healthier, and educating policy makers, community members, and the media on the impact of violence on youth and violence prevention strategies.

Texas: Improving Data Collection for a Comprehensive Cancer Control Program (Texas)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Cancer

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve the collection and utilization of cancer data in Texas.

Text4Diet: A Text Message-based Intervention for Weight Loss

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

Goal: To facilitate behavior change among overweight adults that leads to sustained weight loss.

Impact: Those who use Text4Diet are exposed to customized advice regarding healthy behavior changes. Participants on average saw an average 6-pound weight loss during a four-month use period. This is a statistically significant difference from weight loss in the usual care comparison group.

The Arthritis Self-Management Program (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Other Conditions, Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The Arthritis Self-Management Program is a group workshop that educates individuals with rheumatic diseases on techniques to help them manage their disease and live more active lives.

The Associate Resource Line

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide a resource and referral service that could meet the needs of lower-income employees who might not be well served under a typical employee assistance program.

The Bay-Friendly Landscaping & Gardening Coalition (Bay Area, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Urban

Goal: Goals of the Bay-Friendly Landscaping & Gardening Coalition include:

- Reduce waste & help meet recycling goals.
- Reduce water use on landscapes by 50% or more.
- Nurture healthy soils while reducing fertilizer use.
- Use integrated pest management to minimize chemical use.
- Prevent or reduce storm water pollution to our local creeks and bay.
- Lower maintenance associated with mowing and shearing.
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Create wildlife habitat.

The Black Infant Health Program (Antelope Valley, CA)

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

Goal: The Black Infant Health Program aims to reduce African-American infant mortality through the Social Support and Empowerment model - a faith-based program which seeks to:

- Educate
- Ensure access to care for at-risk pregnant and parenting women and their infants.

The Bright Beginnings Infant Mortality Reduction Program (Prince George's County, MD)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Teens, Adults, Women, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: Bright Beginnings seeks to prevent poor pregnancy outcomes among Prince George's low-income, medically underserved women and children.

Impact: Bright Beginnings has provided services to thousands of women to help reduce infant mortality and prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes. The program has been noted as a promising practice by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene since 2010.

The California Tobacco Control Program (California)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Adults

Goal: The Mission of California's Tobacco Control Section (TCS) is to improve the health of all Californians by reducing illness and premature death attributable to the use of tobacco products.

The City of Chula Vista's CO2 Reduction Plan (Chula Vista, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Urban

Goal: The CO2 Reduction Plan was officially adopted by the Chula Vista City Council in November 2002 and aims to reduce CO2 emissions to 80% of 1990 levels by the year 2010. Specific action measures include:

- Municipal clean fuel vehicle purchases
- Green power use and public education program
- Telecommuting and telecenters
- Enhanced pedestrian connections and increased housing and employment density near transit
- Bicycle lanes, paths, and routes
- Energy efficient landscaping
- Solar pool heating
- Traffic signal and system upgrades

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.