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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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Discovering Previously Unidentified Foodborne Illness Risks through Discussion (Olmstead County, MN)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Food Safety

Goal: The goal of this program was to promote the active management of food borne illness risk factors by food service operators. Its objectives were to: shift the food safety program's focus from counting violations to evaluating food safety risks and systems, use an assessment process based on discussion of foodborne illness risks with the manger/operator, and develop the ability to track assessment results toward the Healthy People 2010 goals.

Don't Borrow Trouble Antipredatory Lending Campaign

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Investment & Personal Finance

Goal: The goal of this program is to help homeowners avoid lending practices that strip away their home's equity.

Families Facing the Future (Seattle, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent parents who are addicted to drugs from relapsing, and to prevent substance abuse among their children.

Impact: Although studies evaluating the effectiveness of this program on the behaviors of drug-using parents and their children showed some positive findings, the overall evidence suggested no effects.

Farm to Hospital (USA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity

Goal: The goals of Farm to Hospital programs are to create partnerships between local farmers and hospitals in order to bring fresh, healthy food to medical facilities and to create new markets for local farmers.

Healthy Changes (Portland, OR)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Healthy Changes program is to increase the ability of program participants to improve their self-care on a day-to-day basis, including diet and physical activity aspects of their diabetes control regime.

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.

Kahiau Program (Honolulu, HI)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Housing & Homes, Children, Older Adults, Families

Goal: The Kahiau Program addresses the non-medical needs of individuals and families in the community served by Castle Medical Center.

Kansas City Gun Experiment (Kansas City, MO)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program was to reduce gun crime in Kansas City.

King County (KC) Kids Oral Health Program (King County, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children, Urban

Goal: The goal of the KC Kids Oral Health Program was to provide no-cost dental services to children who lived between 250% and 300% of the Federal Poverty Level.

King County Children's Health Initiative (King County, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families

Goal: The goal of the Children's Health Initiative is to provide children with consistent access to health care services.

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.