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 Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Rural
Goal: The goal of this project is to build community support for persons with Type 2 diabetes living in frontier Eastern Montana.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Wildlife, Rural
Goal: The goal of the acquisition of Sentenac Canyon and Cienega was to protect the land from development and preserve its wildlife habitats.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Adults
Goal: The goal of the Tobacco Use Prevention program is to control tobacco use, reduce secondhand smoke exposure, and encourage smoking cessation.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases
Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent the spread of tuberculosis among the homeless population.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Children, Teens
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce the prevalence of health risk behaviors among young people by creating healthy school environments that promote health and wellness.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Cancer, Women
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce barriers to exercise and increase the likelihood that people will engage in physical activity.
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Governance, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The mission of the Metro Public Health Department is to protect and improve the health and well-being of all people in Metropolitan Nashville.
Impact: Metro Public Health Department of Nashville/Davidson County has implemented department-wide strategies to address existing health inequities.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Children, Families, Rural
Goal: The goal of this program was to increase full DTaP series vaccination in Wilson County, Kansas.
Impact: Immunization completion rates increased from 70% to 82% after implementation.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Poverty, Adults, Women, Men, Families, Urban
Goal: The goal of the Family Peer Support program is to increase family economic and social self-sufficiency, and to connect parents to needed physical health, behavior health, and educational resources for their child. Family peer support programs generally focus on fostering encouragement of personal responsibility and self-determination, improving family health and wellness, and supporting engagement and communication with providers and systems of care. Research shows that peer support programs promote empowerment and self-esteem, self-management, engagement and social inclusion, as well as improving the social networks of families who receive these services. Research evidence qualifies peer support services as evidence-based through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality guidelines.
Salzer MS, Schwenk E, Brusilovskiy E: Certified peer specialist roles and activities: results from a national survey. Psychiatric Services 61:520–523, 2010.
Repper J, Carter T: A review of the literature on peer support in mental health services. Journal of Mental Health 20: 392–411, 2011.
Cook JA: Peer-delivered wellness recovery services: from evidence to widespread implementation. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal 35:87–89, 2011
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Governance, Children, Urban
Goal: To advocate for children and help them resolve their most pressing legal problem: being in the custody of the state when they need to be in the custody of a family - biological or adoptive - within the 12 months provided by law.
Impact: Children represented by the Foster's Children Project were more likely to exit the foster system to permanency due to higher rates of adoption and long-term custody, but not reunification, than their peers not represented by FCP.