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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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The JAUNT Program: A Regional Transportation System (Charlottesville, VA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide affordable public transportation in central Virginia.

The Louisiana Recovery Authority (Louisiana)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Built Environment

Goal: The Louisiana Recovery Authority is working with Governor Blanco to plan for Louisiana's future, coordinate across jurisdictions, support community recovery and resurgence, and ensure integrity and effectiveness. Working in collaboration with local, state and federal agencies, the authority is addressing short-term recovery needs while simultaneously guiding the long-term planning process.

The Neighborhood Work Project (New York, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment

Goal: For over 25 years, CEO's consistent goal has been to provide immediate, comprehensive, and effective employment services for men and women returning from prison and others under community supervision in New York City.

The New York City Compost Project (New York City)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants, Urban

Goal: The goal of this project is to provide compost outreach and education to New York City residents and businesses.

Third Regional Plan for New York Tri-state Region (New York, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Economic Climate

Goal: The mission of the RPA is to improve the quality of life and the economic competitiveness of the 31-county New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region through research, planning, and advocacy.

Tobacco Vendor Education Program (Suffolk County, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use

Goal: The goal of the program is to increase compliance with the public health law that prohibits the sale of tobacco products to anyone under 19.

Twelve Together (San Diego)

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

Goal: The Twelve Together program seeks to help students stay in school and make academic progress.

Utah Commission on Marriage (Utah)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Families

Goal: The Utah Commission on Marriage is charged with making recommendations about how to promote, strengthen and increase awareness of the importance of marriage in Utah.

Vandenberg AFB QRP Exceeds 90% Diversion Rate (Santa Barbara County, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce waste and encourage recycling at Vandenberg AFB.

VaxTrack Immunization Registry Provider Management Database (Riverside County, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality

Goal: The initial goal of the PMDB development project was to: enable registry staff to collect, store, and easily retrieve large volumes of provider data; accelerate provider recruitment and enrollment by allowing for more organized, effcient outreach; improve provider retention by improving the quality and timeliness of follow-up; and allow registry management to quickly assemble meaningful data for program and staff evaluation.

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.