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, Urban
Goal: The goals of the Staying Alive program are to teach drug users about how to recognize opiate overdose signs and symptoms, how to respond to any overdose cases by calling 911, and how to use rescue breathing and naloxone administration to reduce life-threatening drug overdose.
Impact: Staying Alive reduces mortality due to opiate and heroin drug overdose.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults
Goal: SHHC targets individual, social, and built environment levels of behavior change and is designed to improve diet and physical activity behaviors, assess and improve local food and physical environment resources, and shift social norms about active living and healthy eating through civic engagement and capacity building.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Adults, Women, Rural
Goal: The goal of Strong Women – Healthy Hearts is to decrease cardiovascular disease among middle-aged women through behavioral changes in diet and physical activity.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Older Adults
Goal: The goal of Strong-For-Life home-based exercise program is to promote activity and reduce disability among older adults.
Impact: Home-based resistance exercise programs designed for older persons with disabilities hold promise as an effective public health strategy.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults
Goal: StrongPeople Strong Bodies is a community-based strength training program aimed at mid-life and older individuals. The benefits of strength training for older individuals have been studied extensively and include increased muscle mass and strength; improved bone density and reduced risk for osteoporosis and related fractures; reduced risk for diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, depression, and obesity; and improved self-confidence, sleep, and vitality.
Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Built Environment
Goal: The mission of the members of Sustainable Slopes is to be leaders among outdoor recreation providers through managing their businesses in a way that demonstrates their commitment to environmental protection and stewardship while meeting the expectations of the public.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults
Goal: To use tai chi exercise to improve balance and decrease incidence of falls among older adults.
Impact: The program shows that ta chi can significantly improve health-related outcome measures in older adults and such a program can be practically and effectively implemented and maintained in community settings.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Civic Engagement, Children, Teens
Goal: The intent of this program is to provide each student with at least 12 years of training in how to manage conflicts constructively and thereby significantly change the way they manage their conflicts for the rest of their lives.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Urban
Goal: The goal of the Teen Health Project is to provide adolescents with the skills necessary to prevent HIV risk behaviors.
Impact: The Teen Health Project shows that community-level interventions that include skills training and engage adolescents in neighborhood-based HIV prevention activities can produce and maintain reductions in sexual risk behavior, including delaying sexual debut and increasing condom use.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Urban
Goal: Goals of the Bay-Friendly Landscaping & Gardening Coalition include:
- Reduce waste & help meet recycling goals.
- Reduce water use on landscapes by 50% or more.
- Nurture healthy soils while reducing fertilizer use.
- Use integrated pest management to minimize chemical use.
- Prevent or reduce storm water pollution to our local creeks and bay.
- Lower maintenance associated with mowing and shearing.
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Create wildlife habitat.