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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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Natural Gas STAR (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Air

Goal: Reduce methane emissions from natural gas operations by identifying and promoting the implementation of mitigation technologies and management practices.

Oklahoma Billboard Control and Removal Program (Oklahoma)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Transportation, Adults

Goal: The goal of the Oklahoma Billboard Control and Removal Program is to comply with the requirements of the Oklahoma Highway Beautification Act by removing non-permitted billboards and regulating the installation of new billboards.

Patient and Physician Reminders to Promote Colorectal Cancer Screening (Massachusetts)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of this program is to increase colorectal cancer screening rates among older primary care patients.

Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (Pennsylvania)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Community & Business Resources

Goal: The goal of the Fresh Food Financing Initiative is to remove financing obstacles and operating barriers for supermarkets in poor communities, stimulate investment of private capital in low-wealth communities, create jobs, prepare and retain a qualified workforce, and reduce diet-related diseases by providing healthy food.

Play Streets with Strategic Alliance for Health (SaFH) (East Harlem and South Bronx, NY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: To promote physical activity and healthy eating in resource-poor neighborhoods.

Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Families

Goal: The goal of this program is to promote positive marital relationships and to prevent marital problems.

Primary and Secondary Control Enhancement Training (Los Angeles, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent and control depression among children.

Project PREVENT (Massachusetts and North Carolina)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults

Goal: The goal of Project PREVENT is to reduce behavioral risk factors for colorectal cancer among individuals with positive screenings.

Impact: A significantly greater proportion of Project PREVENT participants reduced their multiple risk factor score when compared to the control group (47% vs. 35%). Intervention participants also had significantly greater multivitamin intake and significantly reduced red meat consumption.

Project ReConnect (Sonoma, CA)

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

Goal: The goal of Project ReConnect is to enable HIV-positive people to explore career, educational, and volunteer activities and to de-stigmatize HIV through education and advocacy.

Protocol for the Isolation and Quarantine of Communicable Disease (Rockland County, NY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases

Goal: The main objective of the Protocol is to provide a medicolegal framework for the protection of public health and safety in the face of emerging threats of infectious diseases and bioterrorism agents with due regard to a citizen's right to due process.

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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