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.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children
Goal: The goal of the HOPS program was to improve overall health status and academic achievement using replicable strategies.
Impact: The HOPS intervention helped students who qualified for free or reduced price meals both stay within the normal BMI percentile and score higher on their state math achievement test.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children
Goal: The goal of Healthy Buddies is to increase health knowledge, health behaviors, and health attitudes in children in elementary school.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: Healthy Eating, Active Communities (HEAC) aims to fight the growing childhood obesity epidemic in California and to develop state policy changes that will reduce the risk factors for diabetes and obesity.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families
Goal: Program goals include prevention of negative birth outcomes (low birth weight, substance abuse, criminal activity, child abuse, and neglect), increased parenting skills, healthy pregnancy practices, and the use of social systems.
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Children, Families
Goal: The goals of HFNY are to promote positive parent-child interaction; to ensure optimal pre-natal care; to promote healthy childhood growth and development; and to enhance family functioning.
Impact: Mothers participating in the HFNY study were significantly less likely to deliver low-birth-weight babies than mothers in the control group (3.3% vs 8.3%). HFNY parents also reported having engaged in significantly fewer acts of serious abuse and neglect.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families, Urban
Goal: The goal of Healthy Families Palm Beach is to prevent child abuse and neglect.
Impact: The Healthy Families program improves birth outcomes, nurtures child development, prevents child abuse and neglect, improves family functioning, and help parents develop more positive beliefs in their parental roles.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens, Families
Goal: Healthy For Life is school and community-based intervention program that promotes proper nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle habits in order to reduce childhood obesity in Orange County, CA.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Adolescent Health, Children, Teens, Families
Goal: The program aims to provide comprehensive, family-centered health care for adolescent parents and their children.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Women, Families
Goal: Healthy Habits was designed to enhance the capacity of local WIC programs and partner agencies to promote healthy lifestyles in families with young children.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families, Urban
Goal: The program aims to reduce childhood obesity by using a three-stage approach to identifying root causes of the issue, developing and implementing behavioral strategies for weight management, and involving both the children and their families in adopting a healthy lifestyle.