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.

Submit a Promising Practice

PAX Tools for Human Services (Tucson/Pima/Arizona)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: PAXIS Institute develops, implements, and supports tested and proven solution-focused strategies with real-world outcomes for children and the adults who care for them in partnership with communities to reduce historical disparities and improve lifetime outcomes to create population-level peace, productivity, health, and happiness.

The mission of the PAX Tools for Human Services program is to empower individuals and communities to create a more nurturing environment with universal access to research-based prevention science in order to improve the well-being and lifetime outcomes of people from all walks of life around the world.

Quality Improvement Project to Improve the Immunization Rate in the Women, Infant, and Children Program (Reno County, KS)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to increase the immunization rate of WIC children.

Impact: The WIC immunization rate for 2 year olds increased from 33% in the 3rd quarter of 2011 to 83% in the 4th quarter of 2012. The no-show rate for WIC appointments decreased from 68% to 27.6%.

Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility (Los Angeles)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: SMURRF aims to mitigate the pollution affecting Santa Monica Bay from urban runoff and raise public awareness of Santa Monica Bay pollution. We have reviewed the SMURRF system and began an investigation of installing a RO system to produce potable water in the coming years. This goal is to contribute to the city’s new sustainable master water plan to become self-reliant on local water by 2020

Strong Seniors (Reno, KS)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of the program is to promote health and prevent injury among seniors through a series of community-based strength training classes.

Strong4Life (Georgia)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Families

Goal: Strong4Life is a statewide movement to inspire kids and families to develop lifelong healthy habits, one positive step at a time.

Tai Chi for Diabetes (Sydney, Australia)

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

Goal: The goal of the “Tai Chi for Diabetes” program was to improve health-related outcomes for
individuals diagnosed with type II diabetes in areas of mobility and physical function.

The City of Chula Vista's CO2 Reduction Plan (Chula Vista, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Urban

Goal: The CO2 Reduction Plan was officially adopted by the Chula Vista City Council in November 2002 and aims to reduce CO2 emissions to 80% of 1990 levels by the year 2010. Specific action measures include:

- Municipal clean fuel vehicle purchases
- Green power use and public education program
- Telecommuting and telecenters
- Enhanced pedestrian connections and increased housing and employment density near transit
- Bicycle lanes, paths, and routes
- Energy efficient landscaping
- Solar pool heating
- Traffic signal and system upgrades

The Duluth, Minnesota, Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP) Advocacy Response (Duluth, MN)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Domestic Violence & Abuse, Families

Goal: The mission of DAIP is to provide advocacy on behalf of battered women. DAIP staff provide information and assess the women's safety regardless of the situation, but they also offer advocacy at three key time periods: immediately after police intervention and arrest, throughout the court proceedings, and after case disposition. The advocates offer support and information about available community resources, explain the criminal court process, describe the civil court remedies available, and obtain information from the women in order to serve as their liaisons to the legal system and to ascertain the level of danger that each woman is in.

The Guided Care Model

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

Goal: The Guided Care Model aims to better health outcomes and reduce spending for aging adults with multiple chronic conditions.

Impact: The Guided Care Model has been shown to improve quality of care and reduce the use of home health care.

The PedNet Coalition (Columbia, MO)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Transportation

Goal: The goal of the Coalition is to give citizens a real choice regarding the mode of transportation they elect for traveling to work, school, or recreaton as well as to encourage healthier lifestyles and a cleaner environment.

An Effective Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

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.
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:

The program description includes: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program funding source, program implementation steps and outcomes.
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:

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.
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.
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.