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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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Together Learning Choices (TLC) (Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Miami)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of Together Learning Choices was to help HIV-infected youth increase their use of health care, decrease drug and alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors, and improve their quality of life.

Impact: Together Learning Choices (TLC) showed that prevention programs can effectively reduce risk acts among HIV-infected youths.

Villa-Parke Community Garden (Pasadena, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Community & Business Resources, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The mission of the Pasadena Community Gardens Conservancy is to improve family health in urban food desert neighborhoods through grants for community gardens and nutrition education.

Impact: Pasadena Community Gardens Conservancy partnered with the City of Pasadena to establish the Villa-Parke Community Center, where community members can learn about gardening, cooking, nutrition.

A Reason to Survive (ARTS) (San Diego, California)

Filed under Good Idea, Art & Recreation / Art, Children, Teens, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: ARTS is dedicated to healing, inspiring and empowering children facing life challenges by providing innovative arts-based programs, education and opportunities.

Acupuncturists Without Borders (Sandia Park, NM)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alternative Medicine

Goal: The mission of Acupuncturists Without Borders is to help alleviate suffering of people worldwide through community acupuncture treatment and training.

Alive & Free Prescription

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of the Alive & Free Prescription is to keep youth unharmed by violence and free from incarceration, and to provide youth with the support and opportunities to build positive lives that contribute to society.

Arriba Juntos (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Employment, Teens, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Arriba Juntos is to provide those most at risk for prolonged poverty with educational and employment programs.

Arts Residency Interventions in Special Education (ARISE) Project (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Student Performance K-12, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Arts Residency Interventions in Special Education (ARISE) Project is to help youth develop creative expression, critical thinking, and basic learning through the arts.

Asthma Home Visiting Program (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Respiratory Diseases, Children, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The Asthma Home Visiting Program aims to reduce asthma triggers present in the home.

Impact: Home visiting can help reduce asthma triggers in the home, decreasing symptoms, missed days of work or school, and emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

At the Crossroads (ATC) (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Adults, Urban

Goal: The mission of At The Crossroads is to reach out to homeless youth and young adults at their point of need, and provide them with services and programs that will empower them and improve their lives.

Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII) (San Francisco Bay Area)

Filed under Good Idea, Health

Goal: The mission of BARHII is to transform public health practice for the purpose of eliminating health inequities using a broad spectrum of approaches that improve community health. Consistent with that mission, BARHII has set the following objectives:

- Train staff on broad spectrum of strategies to improve nutrition and physical activity, and reduce health inequities.
- Develop regional collaborations of public health departments, organizations, coalitions and communities to participate in a comprehensive approach to improve nutrition and physical activity.
- Develop a media advocacy campaign to raise awareness among policy makers and the general public about key issues of nutrition and physical activity, and their link to chronic disease and health inequities.
- Use the regional platform to achieve changes in institutional practices and public policies, and increase support for public health.

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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