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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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Flex Your Power Case Study: City of Santa Clara (Santa Clara, CA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Urban

Goal: The goal of these programs was to reduce energy consumption in Santa Clara.

Flex Your Power Case Study: Cypress Semiconductor (San Jose, CA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve energy efficiency at Cypress Semiconductor.

Flex Your Power Case Study: Glenborough Realty Trust (USA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Urban

Goal: The goal of Glenborough's energy management program is to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy costs at Glenborough properties nationwide.

Flex Your Power Case Study: Natural Resources Defense Council (Santa Monica, CA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability

Goal: The goal of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Robert Redford Building is to provide an example of sustainable and efficient design.

Flex Your Power Case Study: Qualcomm (USA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Urban

Goal: Qualcomm's energy goals include maximizing energy efficiency in all new construction, retrofitting existing buildings to incorporate efficiency technologies, and identifying and implementing demand reduction strategies.

Flex Your Power Case Study: Swinerton, Inc. (San Francisco)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Urban

Goal: The goal of this project was to improve energy efficiency, reduce costs, and provide a better work atmosphere for employees.

Glacier Affordable Housing Foundation (GAHF) (Montana)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide affordable housing for Montana's low and moderate-income residents.

H.O.M.E., Inc: Sustainable Human Settlement Development (Orland, ME)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes

Goal: The purpose of H.O.M.E.'s housing initiative was to provide four basic needs to the low income community: housing, food, fuel and employment.

Healthy Changes (Portland, OR)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of the Healthy Changes program is to increase the ability of program participants to improve their self-care on a day-to-day basis, including diet and physical activity aspects of their diabetes control regime.

Hearts N’ Parks (USA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Adults

Goal: The goal of Hearts N’ Parks was to reduce obesity and the risk of heart disease among Americans by encouraging them to aim for a healthy weight, follow a healthy eating plan, and engage in regular physical activity.

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.