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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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The Healthy Hawaii Initiative (Hawaii)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve health and increase physical activity in Hawaii.

The HOV System: Guide to High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes (Harris County, Texas)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation, Urban

Goal: The goal of METRO's HOV lane network is to reduce traffic congestion and promote ridesharing and the use of public transportation.

The Hundred Year Association of New York Municipal Awards Program (New York, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Educational Attainment

Goal: The goal of this program is to recognize and reward outstanding public service, academic excellence, and community service.

The Louisiana Recovery Authority (Louisiana)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Built Environment

Goal: The Louisiana Recovery Authority is working with Governor Blanco to plan for Louisiana's future, coordinate across jurisdictions, support community recovery and resurgence, and ensure integrity and effectiveness. Working in collaboration with local, state and federal agencies, the authority is addressing short-term recovery needs while simultaneously guiding the long-term planning process.

The Orange Grove Recycling Center (OGRC) (Chattanooga, TN)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide a much-needed recycling service to the City of Chattanooga and the surrounding area while providing jobs for developmentally disabled adults.

The Pacific Hotel: Low-Income Housing (Seattle, WA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Urban

Goal: PHG works to eliminate homelessness and stabilize homeless and very low-income people in housing by preserving, developing and operating safe, decent, affordable housing, and by providing opportunities for homeless and very low-income people to improve their lives.

The Perfect 10 Project (Kansas)

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

Goal: The Perfect 10 Project objective is to increase the initiation rates of breastfeeding to 84%, increase our duration rates of breastfeeding by 25% at 6 months to 35.8% (currently 28.6%), and 32.6% at one year (currently 18.1%).

Impact: There were 102 physician referrals from the Lower 8 counties for breastfeeding assistance in the first six months of 2016, 148 breastfeeding moms were helped through our after-hours hotline in the first six months, and 24 moms attended our Mommy & Me breastfeeding support group.

The SALUD Initiative (Santa Ana, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity

Goal: The goal of the program is to restore open space and promote active living in the community.

The Zombie Solution

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

Goal: The goal of The Zombie Solution is to teach youth to eat healthy and learn coping skills to deal with stress via games.

Thoreau Community Center (Thoreau, NM)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Community & Business Resources, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The Thoreau Community Center provides resources and special programs focused on health/well-being, education, and recreation in order to inspire hope, joy, and progress within Thoreau and neighboring communities.

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.