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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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The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps Project (San Francisco)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps Project was a neighborhood effort to create a mosaic running up the risers of 163 steps.

The Anne Arundel County REACH Program (Anne Arundel County, MD)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide health care access to uninsured, low income residents of Anne Arundel County.

Third Regional Plan for New York Tri-state Region (New York, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Economic Climate

Goal: The mission of the RPA is to improve the quality of life and the economic competitiveness of the 31-county New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region through research, planning, and advocacy.

YouthBuild McLean County (McLean County, IL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children

Goal: The McLean County program's mission is "to offer young people a once in a lifetime opportunity to build their futures and their communities through education, leadership development, job training, and the rehabilitation and production of affordable housing, while keeping a profound respect for and a commitment to real partnership with youth."

A Matter of Balance (Clay and Platte Counties, MO)

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

Goal: The goals of the program are to help participants learn how to view falls and the fear of falling as controllable, set realistic goals for increasing activity, change their environment to reduce fall risk factors, and exercise to increase strength and balance.

Impact: After completing the program, 97% of participants are more comfortable in talking about falls, 95% have made environmental changes, and 99.5% plan to continue exercising.

Achievers for Life (Jacksonville, FL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal of Achievers for Life is to work with 6th grade students and their families in order to prevent students from dropping out of high school.

Active Start (Los Angeles, CA)

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

Goal: The goal of this project is to increase physical activity among sedentary older adults over three years. The project recruits older adults who are at risk and encourages them to incorporate physical activity into their lives.

AIDS Insurance Continuation Program (Florida)

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

Goal: The goal of the AIDS Insurance Continuation Program is to provide low-income Floridians living with HIV/AIDS with continuous private health insurance coverage.

Aim High (San Francisco, Oakland, Marin, San Mateo counties)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The mission of Aim High is to inspire a life-long love of learning and instill a sense of community, opportunity, and respect so that students are prepared for success in school and life.

Aiming High (Sonoma, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children

Goal: The goal of Aiming High is to increase the percentage of English learners scoring at or above proficient on California Standardized tests in language arts and math by three percentage points annually.

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.