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 Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens
Goal: The goal of Cook Like a Chef is to teach children aged 11-13 about healthy cooking and eating habits.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Adults, Families
Goal: The goal of Cooking Matters is to empower families by providing them with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to prepare healthy and affordable meals.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Families
Goal: Cook for Kids aims to improve nutrition at school, home, and restaurants by showcasing innovative school nutrition programs, healthful foods, and cooking techniques.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Women, Urban
Goal: The program offers an integrated food experience to students and expectant mothers attending an alternative high school.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Adults, Families
Goal: Cooking Matters seeks to teach families to stretch their food budgets so their children are fed healthy and nutritious meals at home.
Impact: Graduates of Cooking Matters at the Store learn how to compare food labels, read ingredients lists, and identify healthy food choices that fit their budget.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Urban
Goal: The goal of Brainfood is to engage young people in healthy, creative cooking activities to build life skills and promote healthy living.
Filed under Good Idea, Education / School Environment, Children, Teens
Goal: The goal of the Edible Schoolyard program is to teach students about gardening, cooking, and healthy eating through the creation and maintenance of an organic garden.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity
Goal: The goal of this program is to promote healthy eating in lower-income areas of Louiville. The initiative is part of a larger program with the goal of redesigning low-income urban neighborhoods to promote active living.
Filed under Good Idea, Education / School Environment, Children, Urban
Goal: The goal of the program is to build sustainable, local, urban gardens, in order to deliver more reliable and better nutrition to today’s youth and urban communities.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Poverty, Adults, Women, Men, Families, Urban
Goal: The goal of the Family Peer Support program is to increase family economic and social self-sufficiency, and to connect parents to needed physical health, behavior health, and educational resources for their child. Family peer support programs generally focus on fostering encouragement of personal responsibility and self-determination, improving family health and wellness, and supporting engagement and communication with providers and systems of care. Research shows that peer support programs promote empowerment and self-esteem, self-management, engagement and social inclusion, as well as improving the social networks of families who receive these services. Research evidence qualifies peer support services as evidence-based through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality guidelines.
Salzer MS, Schwenk E, Brusilovskiy E: Certified peer specialist roles and activities: results from a national survey. Psychiatric Services 61:520–523, 2010.
Repper J, Carter T: A review of the literature on peer support in mental health services. Journal of Mental Health 20: 392–411, 2011.
Cook JA: Peer-delivered wellness recovery services: from evidence to widespread implementation. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal 35:87–89, 2011