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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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Police Homeowner Loan Program (Columbia, SC)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention

Goal: The goal of this program is to encourage police officers to reside in low-income neighborhoods in order to reduce criminal activity.

Posse (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Educational Attainment

Goal: The goal of the Posse Foundation is to provide top institutions with a selection of exemplary students from diverse backgrounds that they can recruit, improve the college environment for students of all backgrounds, and help Posse Scholars graduate and find leadership positions in the workforce.

Postponing Sexual Involvement/Human Sexuality Educational Series (Atlanta, GA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Family Planning, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to delay sexual activity among adolescents.

Prenatal Oral Hygiene (Dental Hygiene Kits) (Clinton County, NY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Women

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve the individual oral hygiene practices of the prenatal women in order to reduce the number of low birth weight, pre-term infants born to this population.

Preventive Nutrition Cardiovascular Disease Program (Dade County, FL)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Older Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goals of this project are:
- to increase knowledge of nutrition among Hispanic elders who are at risk for cardiovascular disease and obesity;
- to foster behavior change through group sessions and interactive activities; and
- to test whether the American Heart Association guidelines and materials can be utilized in a dietitian led model targeted to Hispanic elders.

Project CAFE (Los Angeles)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Project CAFE is to identify ways to increase access and availability of healthy foods in Los Angeles neighborhoods in order to decrease obesity and diabetes.

Project COFFEE (Co-Operative Federation for Educational Experiences) (Oxford, MA)

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

Goal: The goal of the program is to prevent school dropout by providing services addressing students' academic, social, emotional, and occupational needs.

Project for Pride in Living (Minneapolis, MN)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Employment, Children, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: PPL works with low-income individuals and families to achieve greater self-sufficiency through housing, employment training, support services, and education.

Project QUEST (San Antonio, TX)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education, Adults, Urban

Goal: Project QUEST strengthens the economy and transforms lives by preparing individuals for in-demand, living wage careers.

Project ReConnect (Sonoma, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Adults

Goal: The goal of Project ReConnect is to enable HIV-positive people to explore career, educational, and volunteer activities and to de-stigmatize HIV through education and advocacy.

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.