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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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Job Corps

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Educational Attainment, Children

Goal: As a national, primarily residential training program, Job Corps' mission is to attract eligible young adults, teach them the skills they need to become employable and independent, and place them in meaningful jobs or further education.

Impact: Evaluations showed that Job Corps substantially increased the education and training that program participants received. Nearly 90% of the program group engaged in some education or training (both in and out of Job Corps), compared with about 64% of the control group.

Kaiser Kids Sun Care Program (Colorado)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Children, Families

Goal: To increase sun protection behaviors in early childhood.

Kaiser Permanente Dental Care Program Smokeless Tobacco Cessation Intervention (USA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Men

Goal: The goal of this dental office based intervention is to reduce smokeless tobacco use and other tobacco use.

Impact: The dental office-based intervention succeeded in increasing the rates of smokeless tobacco cessation among participants.

Kalihi Valley Nature Park and Active Living Center (Honolulu, HI)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle

Goal: The goal of this program is to create a connection to nature, gardening and hiking for the Kalihi valley's urban residents.

Keepin' it R.E.A.L. (Refuse, Explain, Avoid, Leave) (Phoenix, AZ)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: The objective of this program is to increase life skills such as risk assessment, decision-making and drug resistance, while enhancing anti-drug norms and attitudes.

Impact: Evaluation findings suggest that Keepin' it R.E.A.L. succeeded in decreasing substance use, in reducing negative attitudes/behaviors, and in improving positive attitudes/behaviors.

Kids N Fitness: A Family-Centered Lifestyle Intervention for Overweight Youth (Los Angeles, CA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens

Goal: Given the increased prevalence among youth of obesity and Type II Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in the last 25 years, the goal of Kids N Fitness is to reduce risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome in overweight youth through a family-oriented lifestyle intervention.

Impact: These positive health outcomes indicate that a family-centered lifestyle intervention can improve metabolic health among youth.

Know the Law! (Boston, MA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens, Urban

Goal: The primary goals of KNOW THE LAW! include: to improve young people's awareness of legal issues, including both their rights and responsibilities; to help them make positive decisions and resist negative peer pressure; to teach participants to use their bodies, voices, and imagination as actors; to help participants learn basic theatre vocabulary and stage directions; to improve participants' self-confidence, promote high self-esteem, and develop good work habits; and to encourage participants to look at themselves as positive role models for their peers, developing both leadership and collaboration skills.

La Posada Hotel (Winslow, Arizona)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Economic Climate

Goal: The goal of the restoration of La Posada Hotel was to preserve and restore the hotel as a historic landmark, and to reinvigorate the economy of Winslow, Arizona.

Lawndale Health Promotion Project (Chicago, IL)

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

Goal: The goal of the Lawndale Health Promotion Project was to eliminate health disparities in type 2 diabetes and heart disease among Hispanics and African Americans.

LifeSkills Training

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce substance abuse among adolescents.

Impact: Evaluations of LST showed significantly lower smoking, alcohol, and marijuana use 6 years after initial baseline assessment. Prevalence of use of these substances was 44% lower and weekly use of multiple drugs was 66% lower for those receiving LST than for the control students.

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.