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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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Edible Trees

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Adults

Goal: The Edible Trees Program seeks to increase local access to fruiting trees and provide equitable access to healthy foods.

Impact: The Edible Trees Program provides communities access to fruit and nut trees. The program has funded 19 projects resulting in 1,320 trees & shrubs planted.

Elder Farmers' Market Nutrition Program - Florida (Florida)

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

Goal: The goal of the Elder Farmers' Market Nutrition Program is to help low-income elders improve their nutrition through access to fresh produce that they may not otherwise be able to afford.

Ethnic Cuisine in Elementary Schools (Seattle, WA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to introduce healthy eating habits in elementary schools to counter the recent increase in childhood obesity.

Evergreen Action Nutrition Program (Guelph, Ontario)

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

Goal: The goal of the Evergreen Action Nutrition program is to prevent chronic diseases and encourage health eating and nutrition among seniors in the community.

Exercise to Achievement (Madison, WI)

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

Goal: Tri 4 Schools encourages kids to participate in swimming, biking, and running as a way to live an active lifestyle and support health and fitness resources in schools.

Impact: Results of Exercise to Achievement are pending completion of the pilot program.

Exercise Training for Stroke Survivors (Chicago, IL)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to use education and exercise improve outcomes for urban African American stroke survivors.

Family Nutrition Health Education Program (Greenwood, South Carolina)

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

Farm 2 School Lunch Program (Kansas and Missouri)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children

Goal: The goal of the Farm 2 School program is to improve the health and wellbeing of school-aged children and prevent childhood obesity by providing healthy, seasonal, and locally grown meals to children at school.

Feed The Hungry (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: Feed The Hungry aims to fill your body and soul with a nourishing meal in an atmosphere of respect, acceptance and love.

Feet First (Seattle, WA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity

Goal: The goals of this organization are to promote the rights and interests of pedestrians and to encourage walking.

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.