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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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Community Based Mentoring Program: Palm Beach (Palm Beach and Martin, FL)

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

Goal: The goal of the program is to make a positive difference in the lives of children, primarily through professionally guided one-to-one relationships with caring adults, and to assist them in achieving their highest potential, as they grow to become confident, competent and caring individuals.

Community Influenza Collaborative: Prevention and Surveillance (Cass County, ND)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases

Goal: The initial goal of this group was to initiate communication between the private and public health care sectors in regards to influenza prevention planning. Once that communication was established and barriers were identified and addressed, the group identified the following goals: develop a common message for the general public regarding influenza vaccination, educate all health care providers regarding CDC influenza vaccination guidelines and encourage them to adhere to these guidelines, establish consistency in timing for vaccination clinics throughout the community and consistency in vaccination costs, and develop a local influenza surveillance system.

Community Voice: Taking it to the People (Lynchburg, VA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the program is to decrease African American infant mortality through raising awareness of racial health disparities, encouraging safe and healthy lifestyle practices, and providing correct perinatal health education.

Coordinated Asthma Referral and Education (CARE) Program (San Bernardino, CA)

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

Goal: The goal of the CARE Program is to raise community awareness about asthma, coordinate services within target communities, and help families learn how to control and manage asthma.

Corrections Demonstration Project (California)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the CDP was to improve health care access for incarcerated individuals and at-risk minority populations disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS.

Drinking Water Nitrification Surveillance Program (Lee County, FL)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to detect nitrification in drinking water in order to protect infants under six months old from methemoglobinemia and prevent other consequential bacteriological problems.

Early Literacy and Learning Model (Florida)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education

Goal: ELLM aims to decrease literacy gaps in the K-12 system by improving emergent literacy skills through preschool curricula interventions, involving a multi-faceted approach of a rigorous classroom curricula, family involvement, a support system for the teachers, and ongoing assessment of current practices.

Farmworker Case Management Across Borders (Putnam County, FL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the Farmwork Case Management Across Borders program is to improve migrant and seasonal farm worker health.

Growing Healthy Kids Project (Orange County, NC)

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

Goal: The aim of the Growing Healthy Kids Project is to support nutrition, healthy eating, and family unity among local families by providing community gardening space.

Health Science in Motion (Palm Beach County)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children

Goal: The goal of HSIM is to increase at-risk youth interest in health sciences through its hands-on curriculum on the heart and DNA.

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.