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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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Avian Flu Outbreak and Vaccination Drill (Yolo County, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases

Goal: The purpose of the exercise was to train health and emergency medical personnel in planning for and responding to large scale disease outbreaks. The most proven method to assure an effective response to a real event is to practice a well-coordinated multi-agency field exercise.

Avon Park Youth Academy and Street Smart Program (Florida)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens

Goal: The program’s goal is to provide specialized, remedial education and intensive vocational training to moderate risk youth committed to Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice.

Beats and Rhymes (Minneapolis, MN)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Teens, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The mission of Beats & Rhymes is to provide schools and community centers with the knowledge and resources they need to implement their own successful program, and subsequent music group.

Impact: Beats & Rhymes teaches youth music-making skills through implementation in various Minneapolis after-school programs.

Best Practices of Mayors and Their City Governments in Promoting Tolerance and Respect for Diversity (Santa Clarita, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Families

Goal: The goals of the program are to: 1) reduce crime and improve public safety; 2) improve police-citizen cooperation and communication; 3) improve law enforcement responsiveness to members of the community; and 4) increase quality of life and increase police and citizen's ability to creatively solve community problems.

Birth and Beyond California Program (California)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health

Goal: The goal of Birth and Beyond California is to provide effective, evidence-based breastfeeding support to all mothers delivering babies in hospitals in California in order to increase the percentage of mothers who are able to breastfeed exclusively starting at birth.

Bob Janes Triage Center and Low Demand Shelter (Fort Myers, FL)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Bob Janes Triage Center and Low Demand Shelter is to reduce the number of individuals with mental illness or substance use disorders who are arrested and sent to the County jail for minor offenses.

Boys and Girls Club Gang Prevention Through Targeted Outreach

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to decrease gang-related activity and to increase socially positive interactions for children and adolescents.

Broader Urban Involvement and Leadership Development Program (BUILD) (Chicago, IL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Urban

Goal: BUILD's mission is to engage at-risk youth in the schools and on the streets, so they can realize their educational and career potential and contribute to the stability, safely and well being of your communities.

Campaign for a Clean, Safe and Habitable Community (Los Angeles, CA)

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

Goal: The mission of this project is to improve the safety and living conditions for residents of Boyle Heights and to empower those residents to make positive changes in their communitites and their lives.

CareSouth Carolina and the Northeastern Rural Health Network (South Carolina)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Adults, Rural

Goal: The goal of CareSouth Carolina and Northeastern Rural Health Network is to improve the behavioral health wellness of patients and residents.

Impact: The partnership between CareSouth Carolina and Northeastern Rural Health Network has reduced the stigma regarding mental health issues, improved care coordination, and increased the likelihood that patients receive the physical and mental health support they need in order to be healthy.

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.