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.
CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Promoting Health Equity, Education Programs and Policies: Full-Day Kindergarten (USA)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children
Goal: Children in low-income families often experience delays in language and other development by the age of three. Compensating for these delays before children begin regular schooling can be critical to providing them with equal opportunities for lifelong employment, income, and health.
Impact: Outcomes included self-confidence, ability to work or play with others, independence, and school attendance by the end of kindergarten or the beginning of first grade.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens, Families, Urban
Goal: The goal is to increase awareness in faith-based communities regarding preventative care for children and services available at Children's National Medical Center for patients and families.
Impact: The Parish Nursing Program will train eight nurses to become Faith Community Nurses in Summer 2013.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens
Goal: The goal of CAST training is to deliver life-skills training to high-risk high school students in order to increase mood management skills, improve school performance, and decrease drug involvement.
Impact: CAST participants in several NIH-funded studies saw significant and sustained reduction of suicide risk behaviors, reduction of drug use, reduction in depression, increase in personal control, increase in problem-solving, and increase in family support.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children
Goal: The goal of this study was to reduce pediatric asthma-related symptoms by installing central heating in homes.
Impact: Central heating successfully improves home heating, dampness, and energy efficiency. Through home modifications, asthma-related symptoms (nocturnal cough and days lost from school) can be reduced among children.
Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The objective of this article is to describe Project Restoration's approach to cross-sector collaboration with a shared population of high utilizing community members, describe the process and outcomes of the collaboration, provide strategies to mitigate challenges that arise during collaboration and offer insights to inform similar initiatives in communities nationwide.
Impact: Hospitals across the region are assessing ways to establish a centralized infrastructure to collaboratively address the complexities of individual cases, as well as a regional council to explore process improvements to enhance the lives of vulnerable populations.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Children, Teens, Men, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: Making Connections for Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Men and Boys is a national initiative to transform community conditions that influence mental wellbeing. The Prevention Institute works with 13 communities across the U.S. to shift policies, practices, and norms to create greater opportunities for health and resilience, with particular focus on veterans and men and boys of color.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Adults
Goal: The overall goal of the FAST program is to intervene early to help at-risk youth succeed in the community, at home, and in school and thus avoid problems such as adolescent delinquency, violence, addiction, and dropping out of school.
Impact: FAST has generally improved aggressive behaviors and increased positive behaviors amongst participants as reported by teachers and parents.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Public Safety, Teens
Goal: The goal of TADRA is to reduce fatal crashes among teenage drivers.
Impact: After the implementation of TADRA, speed-related fatal crashes were cut by 42%, and alcohol-related fatal crashes decreased nearly 60%.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Adults, Urban
Goal: The MoodGYM and Blue Pages websites aim to alleviate depression symptoms and increase understanding of depression using the Internet.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Adults, Women, Men
Goal: The goal of the promising practice is to reduce binge-drinking behavior in college students using motivational interviewing and personalized feedback techniques.
Impact: At an eight-week follow-up, all four groups reduced their consumption, peak BAC, consequences, and dependence symptoms.