Promising Practices

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Food Insecurity, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The objectives of the FNHE program are to reduce incidents of chronic disease and improve nutrient intake and general quality of life by:

• Access to food that meets nutritional needs
• Preparing and serving meals that are nutritious
• Managing food-related resources, including WIC and SNAP
• Access to benefits available through other community agencies and services
• Increased knowledge about physical activity

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

Goal: To improve children's nutritional status, increase their activity level, enhance their self-esteem, and create life-long health habits by using a multidisciplinary, community- and family-based system approach, and by engaging local health care professionals with community agencies.

Impact: The Fit Kids/Fit Families program shows that multidisciplinary, community- and family-based approaches to children's exercise, weight, & nutrition can have an effect on healthier nutritional choices, increased physical activity, decreased sedentary activity, healthier behaviors, and BMI reductions.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants, Urban

Goal: The goals of the projects were to:
- Provide uninterrupted service;
- Develop a strategy to minimize or eliminate future wastewater rate increases resulting from higher power supply costs;
- Build self-sufficiency and local control over longterm energy supplies;
- Help improve electric generation for the benefit of the IEUA service area (e.g., municipal power Joint Power arrangements with the cities); and
- Assist the region and California in meeting its energy needs.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: To assist homeless transition-aged youth in building the skills necessary to secure and flourish in a stable and independent living situation.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Families

Goal: The goal of this program is to combat high obesity rates, pre-diabetes, and diabetes by providing fresh, healthy food to those most in need.

Impact: The Fresh Food Farmacy has positively impacted the lives of nearly 600 individuals. Patients are seeing significant HBA1C improvements, are better able to manage their diabetes with fewer complications, and several participants have been able to reduce or even eliminate their diabetes medications.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Women's Health, Children, Teens, Women

Goal: The goal of Girls' Circles is to enhance girls' abilities so they are able to take full advantage of their talents, academic interests, career pursuits, and potential for healthy relationships.

Impact: The program has shown statistically significant improvements for girls in Girls Circle programs with the following outcomes: increases in self-efficacy, attachment to school, positive body image, and social support, and decreases in self-harming behavior and alcohol use rates.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: Global Gardens aims to increase household access to affordable fresh vegetables among newly resettled refugee individuals living in the Historic Northeast of Kansas City, Missouri. Program participants are provided use of land, water, seeds, and plant starts at community gardening sites in the Lykins and Indian Mound neighborhoods, maintained by Global Gardens staff.

During the course of the program, growers receive ongoing education and support from staff and interpreters, reducing language and cultural barriers that have historically limited refugee access to community gardening engagement. The Global Gardens curriculum focuses on increasing refugee growers’ skills in community and household gardening, utilizing a garden-based learning theory of education, and implementing participatory, learner-centered assessment techniques. The curriculum empowers growers to take the lead in their learning experience and increase connection to and responsibility for their physical environment.

Additionally, Global Gardens aims to increase participant knowledge of how to access local community gardening resources in Kansas City. Each growing season, participants are connected to Kansas City Community Gardens (KCCG), a non-profit that seeks to assist low-income households to produce vegetables from garden plots in backyards and community sites. Global Gardens participants receive membership information and introduction to the seed and plant ordering process, and practice using this resource during the course of the program, building individual self-sufficiency in navigating the process, and increasing likelihood of utilizing KCCG in future.

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The mission of PUSH Buffalo is to mobilize residents to create strong neighborhoods with quality, affordable housing; to expand local hiring opportunities; and to advance economic and environmental justice in Buffalo.

CDC

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education

Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends center-based early childhood education programs (ECE) to improve educational outcomes that are associated with long-term health as well as social- and health-related outcomes. Economic evidence indicates there is a positive return on investment in early childhood education. The benefits from students' future earnings gains alone exceed program costs.

If targeted to low-income or racial and ethnic minority communities, ECE programs are likely to reduce educational achievement gaps, improve the health of these student populations, and promote health equity.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of the program was to target the housing support needs of its members with the objective of reducing institutionalization, improving quality of life, and reducing total costs of care.

Impact: The large majority of participants surveyed indicated that their quality of life was maintained or increased during the pilot and that they were satisfied with the program.