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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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Parent to Parent Program (Marin, Napa, Solano and Sonoma, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Disabilities, Children, Families

Goal: The program's mission is to empower families of children with special needs to understand and access the systems that serve them.

Project Homeless Connect (San Francisco)

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

Goal: The mission of Project Homeless Connect (PHC) is to connect homeless San Franciscans with the care they need to move forward. The goals of Project Homeless Connect are to:

- Improve access to services for homeless San Franciscans.
- Improve the system of care through collaboration and the sharing of best practices among San Francisco’s homeless service provider community.
- Engage and increase the involvement of the business, nonprofit community, and individual volunteers to work together to provide access to services for homeless San Franciscans.
- To leverage the private sector, corporations, and foundations to expand service capacity and funds.

Raising Readers (Maine)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children, Families

Goal: To foster a love of reading, improve literacy among babies and young children, and ultimately, improve the health and educational outcomes of Maine children.

CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Preventing Excessive Alcohol Consumption: Maintaining Limits on Days of Sale (USA)

CDC

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Adults

Impact: In order to prevent excessive alcoholism and related harms, the Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends supporting existing limits on days in which alcoholic beverages may be sold.

Lead Free Wheels (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The "Lead Free Wheels" program has three goals:

- direct reduction of 6,000-7,500 kg of lead use on vehicles in Michigan and the Midwest;
- demonstrate the viability of lead-free wheel weight installation at Michigan tire retailers, state and municipal fleets and other points vehicle service and:
- encourage domestic production of lead-free wheel weights and a phase out of lead use in wheel weights.

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.