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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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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Note: This practice has been Archived.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.

Improved Childhood Blood Lead Screening in Rhode Island (Rhode Island)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The main objective of this program is to enhance blood lead screening rates of children who are enrolled in all major managed care plans in Rhode Island.

Linking Education, Activity, and Food (LEAF): Fiscal Impact Report (California)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of the study was to conduct a multi-component, cross-site evaluation of California's LEAF program. The report analyzes the fiscal impacts experienced by the 16 LEAF schools as a result of the implementation of SB 19/56.

Out-of-School Time Care (Colorado)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to promote the academic success of school-age children while also addressing the needs of working parents who need quality child care services.

Providing Educational Enrichment for Students Expelled from Traditional School Settings (Indianapolis, IN)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of the Opportunity School is to provide educational enrichment for middle school (6th - 8th grades) students who have been expelled from standard school settings.

Risk-Based Targeted Tuberculosis Screening In Virginia (Virginia)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases

Goal: The goal of the program is to optimize the efficient utilization of public health resources by targeting tuberculin screening activities to persons at increased risk for TB infection or disease.

Coalition to Reduce HIV in Broward County (Broward County, FL)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Coalition to Reduce HIV in Broward County is to eliminate disparities in HIV disease in Broward County.

Impact: Disparities in new diagnoses of HIV among Hispanic residents of Broward County were eliminated and cut in half among non-Hispanic residents.

Experience Corps (USA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Older Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Experience Corps is to improve the cognitive, physical, and psychological function of retired senior citizens while simultaneously employing their free time to help narrow the achievement gap in urban, low-income elementary schools

First-grade Gardeners More Likely to Taste Vegetables (California)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children

Goal: The goal of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility of garden-based education programs for elementary-school students in order to develop and evaluate a comprehensive, garden-enhanced nutrition education program for elementary students.

Strengthening the Bonds of Chicano Youth and Families (Eloy, AZ)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Teens, Families, Rural

Goal: The goal of this project was to prevent substance abuse among high-risk youth in Arizona.

Impact: Participants in the experimental group experienced significant differences in family relations, significant decrease in alcohol and other drugs, and also a significant decrease of alcohol use by family members. Participants of the control group did not experience similar impacts.

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.