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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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Helping Kids Grow (West Allis, WI)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Families

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve the well-being of pre-school children.

High-School Based Screening for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea (Philadelphia, PA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to educate high school students regarding the risks of STDs, prevention methods, and the need for testing if sexually active.

HIV Performance Improvement Program (Suffolk County, NY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality

Goal: The program's objectives are to perform systematic and objective monitoring and evaluation of the quality and appropriateness of care and pursuit of opportunities to improve care and resolve problems as they are identified.

Homecoming Services Program (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: The program’s mission is to serve San Francisco’s isolated seniors 60 and older in making the transition from hospital to home.

Homeless Families Program (Los Angeles, CA)

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

Goal: The mission of Beyond Shelter is to develop systemic approaches to combat poverty and homelessness among families with children and enhance family economic security and well-being.

Housing Opportunities Program (San Mateo County, CA)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide housing help and supportive services to low- income families transitioning to self-reliance.

Hypertension Treatment in Barbershops (Dallas, TX)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce blood pressure among African American men.

Imagination Library

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to promote children's imagination, and to nurture children's aspirations and dreams for the future.

Increased Medicaid Reimbursements to Enhance Breast/Cervical Cancer Screening Project (Leon County, FL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Women's Health, Women

Goal: The goal of this program is to increase breast and cervical cancer screening among medically underserved women.

Independent Transportation Network (Portland, ME)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The mission of this program is to provide a community-based, and community supported, economically viable and consumer-oriented, quality transportation service for seniors.

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.