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 Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Teens, Women, Urban
Goal: The Centering Pregnancy Plus Project aims to reduce risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and improve health outcomes for young pregnant women, aged 14-21.
Impact: Facilitated group discussions promoting condom use among young women can increase condom use among participants.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Children, Teens
Goal: The goal of the CLEAR intervention is to empower HIV-positive youth to reduce risk behaviors and improve mental and physical health.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Women
Goal: The goal of Commit to Quit is to help female smokers quit smoking through group programming and exercise.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Families
Goal: The goal of Common Sense Parenting is to develop or enhance parenting skills.
Impact: Results from the Common Sense Parenting program indicated improvement in child behavior, parent attitudes, family satisfaction and parent problem-solving ability.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Children, Teens, Families
Goal: The goal of Communities That Care is to mobilize communities to prevent future substance abuse by reducing risk factors for children between the ages of 10 and 14.
Impact: Communities That Care reduces initiation of substance abuse behaviors in youth aged 10-14.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children
Goal: The goal of Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) is to improve nutrition, increase physical activity, and reduce obesity in preschool, elementary, and middle school aged children.
Impact: CATCH is successful in improving participants' diet and physical activity, and the results lasted three years after participation.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Adults, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The goal of Cultivando la Salud is to increase breast and cervical cancer screening among low-income Hispanic women.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Urban
Goal: The goal of this peer-education intervention is to reduce injection risk behaviors for HIV and hepatitis C virus infection in young injection drug users.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Rural
Goal: The goal of ELSB is to help moderately to severely disabled children develop the skills and behaviors they need to succeed in a standard reading program.
Impact: ELSB demonstrates that reading skills curriculum adapted to alternative instructional needs of cognitively disabled children can more effectively improve literacy as compared to sight-word-only programs.
Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Families
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce energy usage in order to save on energy costs, increase energy reliability, prevent greenhouse gas emissions, and improve national energy security. It is also an essential strategy for reducing natural gas prices and ensuring a balanced energy future in a growing economy.