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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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Horizon House (Indianapolis, IN)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes

Goal: Horizon House believes homeless guests possess strengths that are key to ending their homelessness, and states its mission is "to be a focal point for services and assistance to empower individuals and families to no longer be homeless."

Hospital Diversion Initiative (Kansas City, MO)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Hospital Diversion Initiative is to connect individuals who chronically utilize the inpatient and emergency rooms with outpatient care.

Impact: After three months in the program, participants showed a 66% reduction in ER visits, 68% reduction in inpatient hospital stays, a 72% decrease in homelessness, an 18% reduction in unemployment, and a 66% decrease in past 30 day arrests. More than 350 individuals have been served so far.

Immunize LA Kids (Los Angeles, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Children, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Immunize LA Kids is to improve immunization rates among children.

Improving African American Participation Rates in Health Intervention Research (Minnesota)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: To improve participation of African Americans in health promotion and intervention research.

Increased Medicaid Reimbursements to Enhance Breast/Cervical Cancer Screening Project (Leon County, FL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Women's Health, Women

Goal: The goal of this program is to increase breast and cervical cancer screening among medically underserved women.

Increasing Screening Colonoscopy in an Urban Public Hospital (New York, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to increase access to colorectal cancer screening by improving the efficiency in health care clinics.

Influenza Vaccination Program (Henderson County, NC)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases

Goal: In 2002, the health department changed the clinic site and operation to accomplish the following three goals: 1) to conduct a mass vaccination involving other community agencies, businesses and health providers; 2) to distribute influenza vaccination in the community for greater equity and accountability; and 3) to introduce the citizens to the concept and process of a mass vaccination drill.

inSPOT (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Teens, Adults

Goal: The goal of inSPOT is to improve STD partner notification by providing online resources including electronic postcards.

Intervention Mapping and the Development of a Peer Supported Diabetes Self-Management Program in Rural Alabama (Alabama)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Teens, Older Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The intervention is a diabetes self-management program that utilizes peer advisers to reach patients who have poor health literacy, are physically isolated, and require assistance with managing their diabetes.

Jail Linkage Project (Pinellas County, FL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases

Goal: The goal of the Jail Linkage Project is to connect the incarcerated population with health care screening and prevention services.

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.
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