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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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Functional Adaptation Skills Training (FAST) (San Diego, CA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Adults

Goal: The goal of FAST is to improve patients' independence and quality of life.

Impact: Studies have shown that FAST-treated patients' performance on everyday living skills improved significantly compared to non-participants. They also demonstrated significant improvement in social and communication skills at 6-month follow-up.

Special Needs Project (SNP) (California)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Families

Goal: The project's goal is to identify children with disabilities and other special needs at an early age and provide those identified with the appropriate support so they can be successful when entering kindergarten.

A Reason to Survive (ARTS) (San Diego, California)

Filed under Good Idea, Art & Recreation / Art, Children, Teens, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: ARTS is dedicated to healing, inspiring and empowering children facing life challenges by providing innovative arts-based programs, education and opportunities.

Repeat Offender Prevention Program (Orange County, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of the program is to prevent young offenders from becoming chronic delinquents.

Flex Your Power Case Study: San Diego State Office Building (San Diego, CA)

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

Goal: The goal of this program was to reduce energy usage at the San Diego State Office Building.

Flex Your Power Case Study: City and County of San Francisco (San Francisco)

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

Goal: The goal of these projects was to find ways to maximize energy conservation and efficiency through measures with a quick payback period.

Santa Barbara Car Free Project (Santa Barbara)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Transportation, Children, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: The project's mission is to encourage car free, carefree travel to and around Santa Barbara for cleaner air and a healthier planet.

Flex Your Power Case Study: Santa Clara Valley Water District (San Jose, CA)

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

Goal: Besides attempting to prevent rolling blackouts, the City of San Jose wanted to participate in the water conservation program to reduce the amount of treated wastewater that is released into San Francisco Bay.
Specific goals included:
-Continue to support SCVWD's mission of water supply and management in spite of external power interruptions,
- Provide 24-hour battery backup for SCADA instrumentation and communications,
-Provide indefinite power backup via backup generators for critical source pumping, water treatment and emergency operations, and
- Reduce HVAC and lighting use to prudent levels.

Mailed Psychoeducational Intervention for Colorectal Cancer Screening (England)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve colorectal cancer screening rates among older adults.

Impact: Participants in the intervention group had significantly higher colorectal cancer screening attendance, as well as having more positive attitudes about screening and placing a higher priority on screening.

California Childcare Healthline (San Francisco Bay Area)

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

Goal: The goals of this program are to promote and maintain the broadest understanding of health and wellness in early childhood settings and to create linkages and promote collaboration between health and safety professionals and child care professionals.

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.