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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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Libraries and Autism: We're Connected

Filed under Good Idea, Art & Recreation / Libraries & Museums, Families

Goal: This program aims to educate library staff and train workers how to best serve library patrons with autism and their families.

Maryville and Alcoa Greenway Trail (Maryville and Alcoa)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Transportation, Children, Women, Men, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal of the trail is to provide a safe route for residents to travel to work, school, businesses and recreational areas.

Media-Smart Youth: Eat, Think and Be Active! (San Francisco)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens

Goal: Media-Smart Youth aims to stimulate youth to think about physical activity and nutrition by developing an awareness of the link between media and health.

Mental Health and Mental Illness: Interventions to Reduce Depression Among Older Adults Clinic-Based Depression Care Management

CDC

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders

Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends depression care management in primary care clinics for older adults with major depression or chronic low levels of depression (dysthymia) on the basis of sufficient evidence of effectiveness in improving short-term depression outcomes.

Mental Health and Mental Illness: Interventions to Reduce Depression Among Older Adults Home-Based Depression Care Management

CDC

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders

Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends depression care management at home for older adults with depression on the basis of strong evidence of effectiveness in improving short-term depression outcomes.

Metropolitan Region I Cardiovascular Disease Risk Screening and Education (Region I, LA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality

Goal: The objectives of the Cardiovascular Disease Risk Screening and Education program are as follows:

-To identify and provide early intervention for those with or at risk for untreated or uncontrolled hypertension
-To screen and identify those at risk for cardiovascular and renal disease
-To educate those found at risk for CVD
-To provide early chronic disease intervention
-To facilitate access for long term chronic disease care with partner sites

MyTeachingPartner-Secondary - Teacher Training, Evaluation, and Compensation (Charlottesville, VA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education, Adults

Goal: MyTeachingPartner, or MTP, is a system of professional-development supports developed through the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning. MTP improves teacher-student interactions, which in turn, increases student learning and development.

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.

Partnerships That Work: National Service and Business in Welfare to Work (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment, Teens, Families

Goal: This study addresses how to use national service to build effective welfare-to-work programs, and to encourage business collaborations. Two major suggestions are partnering with Employer Advisory Groups and generating national level support.

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.