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.

Submit a Promising Practice

Keepin' it R.E.A.L. Mother-Adolescent HIV Prevention Program (Atlanta)

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

Goal: The goals of this intervention were to delay initiation of sexual intercourse for youth who are not sexually active, encourage the use of condoms among sexually active youth, and enhance communication about sex between youths and their mothers.

Impact: Keepin' It R.E.A.L. teen participants increased their condom-use during sexual activity while maternal participants reported feeling more comfortable when discussing sexual issues with their teens.

Kids N Fitness: A Family-Centered Lifestyle Intervention for Overweight Youth (Los Angeles, CA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens

Goal: Given the increased prevalence among youth of obesity and Type II Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in the last 25 years, the goal of Kids N Fitness is to reduce risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome in overweight youth through a family-oriented lifestyle intervention.

Impact: These positive health outcomes indicate that a family-centered lifestyle intervention can improve metabolic health among youth.

Kosher Meals for the Homebound (New York, NY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Older Adults

Goal: Kosher Meals for the Homebound is a program of Dorot, which alleviates social isolation among the elderly and provides services to help them live independently as valued members of the community.

Linking the Interests of Families and Teachers (LIFT) (Eugene, OR)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Urban

Goal: Linking the Interests of Families and Teachers (LIFT) is a research intervention program designed to prevent the development of aggressive and antisocial behavior.

Impact: Evidence suggests that LIFT can be a useful tool for promoting effective parenting in the home and decreasing aggressive behaviors with peers at school and on the playground. LIFT participants exhibited a decrease in child physical aggression toward classmates on the playground, an increase in teachers' positive impressions of child social skills with classmates, and a decrease in parents' aversive behavior during family problem-solving discussions.

Live Well Omaha Kids (Omaha, NE)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Urban

Goal: The mission of Live Well Omaha Kids is to help all children living in Omaha achieve improvements in nutrition and physical activity.

Maine Youth Overweight Collaborative (Maine)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Families

Goal: MYOC aims to improve clinical practice, care, and outcome regarding children's weight.

Managing Multiple Chronic Conditions with a Community Health Worker Intervention (Philadelphia, PA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Older Adults

Goal: To assess whether an Individualized Management for Patient-Centered Targets (IMPaCT), delivered by community health workers improved patients' chronic disease management and self-rated physical and mental health.

Impact: Individuals with multiple chronic conditions when paired with a community health worker will perceive that their care is higher quality and may have fewer hospitalizations.

Maryland WIC 5-A-Day (MD)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Children, Women, Families

Goal: To increase daily fruits and vegetables servings by half in women served by WIC participants with the long term goal of reducing risk of cancer.

Impact: The Maryland WIC 5-A-Day Program shows that while multi-faceted community based interventions can effectively promote and sustain dietary change among low-income populations in order to reduce the risk of cancer, many obstacles remain in implementing such programs.

McAuley Village (Providence, RI)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Families, Urban

Goal: McAuley Village attempts to take poor single parents from a life of welfare dependence to one of independence. Although primarily a housing program, it also holistically addresses the many factors contributing to the vulnerability of these families, while attempting to tailor a solution to each family.

Medicaid Savings Resulted When Community Health Workers Matched Those With Needs To Home And Community Care (Arkansas)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Government Assistance, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce costs by using specially trained community health workers to help connect people with unmet long-term needs and/or those at risk of entering nursing homes to Medicaid home and community-based services.

Impact: Similar interventions may help other localities achieve cost-saving and equitable access to publicly funded long-term care options other than institutional care.

An Effective Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

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.
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:

The program description includes: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program funding source, program implementation steps and outcomes.
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:

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.
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.
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.