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.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults
The goal of EnhanceFitness is to encourage older adults to engage in regular physical activity to improve their health and well-being.
EnhanceFitness participants reported a 13% improvement in social function, a 52% improvement in depression, and a 35% improvement in physical functioning. Additionally, participants' healthcare costs were 21% less than those of non-participants after one year.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children, Teens
The mission of Family Place Libraries™ is to increase the capacity of libraries throughout the nation to recognize and realize their full potential as community hubs for healthy child and family development, parent and community involvement and lifelong learning beginning at birth.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Teens
The main goals of this program are to increase communication and bonds between and among the three domains of school, home, and the individual; to enhance children's social, cognitive, and problem-solving skills; to improve peer relationships; and ultimately to decrease disruptive behavior at home and in school.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Wildlife
The goal of this program is to establish a national consistency in the methods, protocols, and approaches to developing and managing noncommercial fish and wildlife consumption advisories. Fish consumption advisories are issued to warn consumers of unsafe levels of chemical contaminants in noncommercial fish and wildlife.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults
The goal of the Fit and Strong! program is to improve function among older adults with osteoarthritis.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Teens, Rural
The goal of the program is to intervene in the lives of high-school dropouts and provide them with the values, life skills, education, and self-discipline necessary to succeed.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Women's Health, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The goal of the FoCaS Project is to improve breast and cervical cancer screening participation among low-income women.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children
The goal of the FRIENDS Programs is to teach cognitive-behavioral skills to reduce anxiety in elementary school students who are or were exposed to violence.
The FRIENDS Programs and specific studies of them indicate that school-based anxiety prevention programs can increase standardized mathematics achievement scores, decrease life stressors, and reduce victimization by community violence in children.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Adults
The goal of FAST is to improve patients' independence and quality of life.
Studies have shown that FAST-treated patients' performance on everyday living skills improved significantly compared to non-participants. They also demonstrated significant improvement in social and communication skills at 6-month follow-up.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Family Planning, Teens
The goal of this program is to decrease pregnancy in adolescent and teenage girls.
Those who participated in one or more program components were significantly less likely to experience pregnancy than nonparticipants (5.9% vs 12.3%). Those who participated in two or more program components were significantly less likely to engage in sexual intercourse without birth control than those who participated in only a single program component (8.9% vs 20.6%).