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 / Cancer, Adults, Urban
Goal: The goal of this program was to increase colorectal cancer screening recommendations and completion rates at a Veterans Affairs medical center.
Impact: Veterans Affairs (VA) patients in the intervention group received more recommendations for colorectal cancer screening and completed more screening tests compared to those in the control group.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants, Families
Goal: The Healthy Neighborhoods program seeks to reduce housing related illness and injury through prevention and education.
Impact: In the past five years, the HNP visited 31,000 homes with 85,000 residents, and provided the asthma intervention to 11,000 adults and children with asthma. The assessments created a valuable data set about the health effects of housing hazards.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Children, Families
Goal: The Community Gardens Program aims to improve the health of the residents of San Antonio and the environment by creating community gardens, which provide a place for gathering, exercising, and learning, as well as preserving San Antonio’s green space.
Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Built Environment
Goal: The goal of the Community Greenspace program is to restore and revitalize urban neighborhoods by helping residents create greenspace in their communities.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce high-risk drinking behaviors.
Impact: Studies demonstrate that the program resulted in decreases in substance use and behaviors related to risk factors. Participants had significant reductions in drinking quantities, variances in drinking quantities, rates of driving when having had too much to drink, and rates of driving over the legal limits relative to nonparticipants. There was also a significant decrease in the number of nighttime crashes per month and the monthly rates of driving under the influence (DUI) crashes.
Community-based Exposure Study and Development of a Community-First Communication Model (San Francisco)
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants, Rural
Goal: The goal of this study was to address the health effects of PFOA pollution, with a strong desire to implement a community-driven communication strategy to communicate the study results.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families
Goal: To teach children and parents how to manage anxiety disorders.
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 / Adolescent Health, Teens
Goal: The goal of CAST training is to deliver life-skills training to high-risk high school students in order to increase mood management skills, improve school performance, and decrease drug involvement.
Impact: CAST participants in several NIH-funded studies saw significant and sustained reduction of suicide risk behaviors, reduction of drug use, reduction in depression, increase in personal control, increase in problem-solving, and increase in family support.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to help children recognize and deal with anxiety.
Impact: Studies have found that participants in the Coping Cat program show significant reductions in anxiety and fear, improvements in ability to cope with dreaded situations, and a reduction in the frequency of negative thoughts during the week.