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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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Advancing Diabetes Self Management: Holyoke Health Center, Inc. (Holyoke, MA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Advancing Diabetes Self Management project at the Holyoke Health Center was to improve health outcomes of patients with type 2 diabetes.

Community Building in Grinnell (Grinnell, IA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Civic Engagement, Rural

Goal: The primary goal of the CBIG initiative is two-fold: to systematically change the way young people and adults in our community perceive conflict and how they respond to and resolve disputes.

Extended-Service Schools Initiative (Philadelphia, PA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of this initiative is to promote the development of young people through after-school programs.

Flex Your Power Case Study: Cypress Semiconductor (San Jose, CA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve energy efficiency at Cypress Semiconductor.

Healthy Neighborhoods Program (Niagara County, NY)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The goal of this program is improve the health and safety of the residents of Niagara County.

Information & Education Campaign for Health Care Providers (Santa Cruz County, CA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality

Goal: The goal of the project was to publish an up-to-date Essential Reporting Guidelines which would be distributed to approximately 90% of healthcare providers in Santa Cruz county. As mentioned above, they wanted to increase reporting and surveillance activities with the primary physicians and also educate them on bioterrorism agents.

Positive Youth Development Program (New Haven, CT)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens

Goal: To increase social competence and decrease substance abuse among sixth and seventh grade students.

Project A.S.K. (Adolescents Seeking Knowledge) (Nashville, TN)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens

Goal: Project A.S.K. seeks to raise youth self-efficacy, improve knowledge of health issues, highlight math and science concepts tested in school, build leadership qualities, and improve the sense of community.

Project PACE (Huntington, NY)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent alcohol, tobacco and drug use.

Project RIO (Re-Integration of Offenders) (Texas)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention

Goal: The goal or this program is to help those who have been incarcerated find employment.

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.