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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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Combining Innovative Recycling Initiatives and Job Creation in Graz (Austria)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goals of the program include both ecological waste management and job creation.

Communities and Schools for Career Success (CS2) (Petaluma, CA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The Communities and Schools for Career Success (CS2) partnership's goal is to increase academic achievement, civic engagement, and career awareness by reshaping the relationships between schools and the community.

Cool Schools Tree Planting and Education Program (Los Angeles)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: Cool Schools aims to reduce energy consumption, improve air quality, teach children about the environment, create greener spaces for children to learn and play, and provide career development assistance to young adults.

Engaging Parents and Adults in Educational Activities at School (Princeton, NJ; Philadelphia, PA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: By providing programs for students and adults in the areas of literacy, the visual and performing arts, and service learning, NSCC's goals include improving students' performance in school and encouraging parents to become more involved.

Food Stamps and Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) at Arizona Farmer's Markets (Arizona)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Government Assistance

Goal: To help low-income people increase their access to healthy foods while building community and economic assets through local food production and distribution.

Metropolitan Housing and CDC (MHCDC) (North Carolina)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The mission of this program is to improve the quality of life for low-income persons through systematic and sustainable community development efforts.

Montana Diabetes Prevention and Control Program (DPCP) (Montana)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Children, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this project is to monitor trends in diabetes among Montana's American Indian youth, to evaluate the effectiveness of their diabetes prevention activities, and to identify opportunities to improve care for their patients with diabetes.

Native American Prevention Project Against AIDS and Substance Abuse

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The primary goals of this project are to prevent HIV/AIDS and substance abuse among Native Americans.

Planning and Facilitating Life Skills Classes for Welfare Recipients (Kentucky)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Poverty

Goal: The goal is to provide welfare recipients with life skills courses to aid them in their path towards self-sufficiency. Life skills are topics that are often not covered in academic or technical training courses but can be just as important for ensuring a successful and stable lifestyle.

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.