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 / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Women
Goal: The goals of the program are to 1) assist mothers in obtaining treatment, maintaining recovery, and resolving the complex problems associated with their substance abuse, 2) guarantee that the children are in a safe environment and receiving appropriate health care, 3) effectively link families with community resources, and 4) demonstrate successful strategies for working with this population and thus reduce the numbers of future drug- and alcohol-affected children.
Impact: At a 36-month follow-up women in PCAP were more likely to have received alcohol/drug treatment than the control group. Cost savings were suggested by a reduction in length of out-of-home care and prevention of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults
Goal: The goal of the PEARLS program is to provide home-based counseling in order to manage and treat depression among older adults.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens, Families
Goal: The Raising Healthy Children program is a social development approach to positive youth development.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The program aimed to increase the rate of cervical cancer screening in Chinese women living in North America in response to research findings of significantly lower cervical cancer screening rates in Chinese women.
Impact: This intervention program found that women who received an intervention had cervical cancer screenings at a higher rate than those who did not receive any intervention. This shows that culturally and linguistically appropriate interventions might help improve Pap testing rates among Chinese women.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children, Teens, Urban
Goal: The mission of 826 National is to help children ages 6-18 develop their writing skills, and to help teachers get their students excited about writing. The mission is based on the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.
Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment
Goal: The goal of this program is to improve retention of hospital employees to address critical shortages in health care staffing.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Cancer, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The goal of this project was to promote colorectal cancer screening among Chinese Americans.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Teens
Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent suicide and reduce depression among high-school students.
Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment, Children
Goal: The goal of the DO-IT Scholars Program is to increase the participation of individuals with disabilities in challenging academic programs and careers. Its mission is to promote the use of computing and networking technologies to increase independence, productivity, and participation in education and employment.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to introduce healthy eating habits in elementary schools to counter the recent increase in childhood obesity.