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 Effective Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to improve the academic performance and cognitive development of young children who are considered at risk for developmental delays and school failure.
CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Adolescent Health: Person-to-Person Interventions to Improve Caregivers' Parenting Skills (USA)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Families
Goal: To modify adolescents' risk and protective behaviors by improving their caregivers' parenting skills based on sufficient evidence of effectiveness in reducing adolescent risk behaviors.
Impact: Although the estimated effects varied substantially and were not statistically significant, risk behaviors decreased and youth participants reported increased refusal skills and self efficacy for avoiding risky behaviors in the future.
CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Asthma Control: Home-Based Multi-Trigger, Multicomponent Environmental Interventions (USA)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Respiratory Diseases, Children, Teens
Goal: To improve overall quality of life and productivity for children and adolescents that suffer from asthma.
Impact: Home-based multi-trigger, multi-component interventions with a combination of minor or moderate environmental remediation with an education component provide good value based on improvement in symptoms free days.
CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Early Childhood Development Programs: Comprehensive, Center-Based Programs for Children of Low-Income Families (USA)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Impact: Evidence shows that publicly-funded, center-based, comprehensive early childhood development programs for low-income children aged 3 to 5 years can be effective in preventing delay of cognitive development and increasing readiness to learn.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Adults
Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) has found that increasing the unit price of alcohol by raising taxes can help prevent excessive alcohol consumption and related harms.
CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Preventing Excessive Alcohol Consumption: Maintaining Limits on Days of Sale (USA)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Adults
Impact: In order to prevent excessive alcoholism and related harms, the Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends supporting existing limits on days in which alcoholic beverages may be sold.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Children, Adults
Goal: The goal of the programs is to increase vaccination coverage of patients through reminders to providers and other health care professionals.
Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends provider reminder interventions based on strong evidence of effectiveness in improving vaccination coverage:
-In adults, adolescents, and children
-When used alone or with additional components
-Across a range of intervention characteristics (e.g., computerized or simple reminders, checklists or flowcharts)
-In a range of settings and populations
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Urban
Goal: The goal of the Chicago Housing Health Partnership is to use tailored case management to place chronically medically ill homeless individuals in stable, long-term housing and facilitate access to medical services.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Urban
Goal: The goals of this program are to provide a stable learning environment that will promote scholastic development, to enhance parent-child relationships, and to prevent delinquency.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Families, Urban
Goal: The goal of the initiative was to address poor attendance and other problems within families of identified chronic elementary school truants who missed 20 percent or more of school days within a 6-week period.