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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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Support Healthy Active Kids in Education (SHAKE) (Sonoma, CA)

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

Goal: The goal of the SHAKE program is to use elementary school-based programming to promote childhood health and fitness.

The Cambodian Community Health 2010 Project (Lowell, MA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve the health of the Cambodian population in Lowell, Massachusetts.

The Diabetes Collaborative (Chicago)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The Diabetes Collaborative is a comprehensive, sustainable and evidence-based model of care developed to combat the health problems associated with diabetes.

The Harlem Hospital Injury Prevention Program (IPP) (Harlem, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent injuries and violence among children and adolescents in Harlem.

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.

Unite for Sight Eyeglass Drives

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide eyeglasses to people in developing countries and to involve students in improving conditions in developing countries.

West Nile Virus - Metropolitan Atlanta Surveillance Task Force (Atlanta, GA)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to create a regional approach to emerging infection based on public education, environmental monitoring, and disease surveillance.

YMCA's Diabetes Prevention Program (Northeast Florida counties)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Adults

Goal: The goal is for participants to lose seven percent of their body weight and increase their physical activity to 150 minutes per week in order to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Access to Care (Cook County)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Urban

Goal: Access to Care aims to meet primary health care needs of low-income uninsured individuals.

AIDS Care Project (Boston, MA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alternative Medicine

Goal: The goal of the AIDS Care Project is to provide acupuncture therapy to people living with HIV/AIDS.

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.