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.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / School Environment, Children
Goal: The goal of the Caring School Community program is to build classroom and school communities in order to support learning, academic success, positive relationships and character formation.
Impact: After 3 years, CSC students, relative to their comparison school counterparts, showed a greater sense of the school as a caring community, more fondness for school, stronger academic motivation, more frequent reading of books outside of school, a higher sense of efficacy, stronger commitment to democratic values, better conflict-resolution skills, more concern for others, more frequent altruistic behavior, and less use of alcohol.
CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Early Childhood Development Programs: Comprehensive, Center-Based Programs for Children of Low-Income Families (USA)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Impact: Evidence shows that publicly-funded, center-based, comprehensive early childhood development programs for low-income children aged 3 to 5 years can be effective in preventing delay of cognitive development and increasing readiness to learn.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Adults
Impact: Dram shop liability laws, or when the owner of an establishment that sells alcohol is responsible for the harmful actions of a customer after he or she buys a drink, leaves the location, and then causes harm, have the ability to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harms.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The goal of this intervention was to increase cervical cancer screening among Vietnamese American women.
Impact: The Cervical Cancer Control intervention is impactful in increasing the likelihood that women who have a history of at least one pap test receive another pap test in the future.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens, Families
Goal: Coalition for Community Schools’ mission is to mobilize the resources and capacity of multiple sectors and institutions to create a united movement for community schools.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Adults, Older Adults, Urban
Goal: CAPABLE is a 5-month structured home visit program delivered by an occupational therapist (OT), a registered nurse (RN), and a handyman to improve daily function in older adults and to lower the monthly average Medicaid expenditure and likelihood of costly healthcare services.
Impact: This study demonstrates that home visit programs can improve the daily quality of life in aging adults. Additionally, they can lead to a reduction in Medicaid expenditures via lower inpatient costs and lower long-term care costs.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / School Environment, Children, Teens, Urban
Goal: The goal of this program is to improve classroom management in order to provide a better learning environment that fosters academic success.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Families
Goal: The goal of this program is to help preschool children learn emotional self-regulation and facilitate their psychosocial development.
Impact: The Early HeartSmarts program was effective in increasing children’s social/emotional, physical, cognitive and language development in a classroom setting.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens, Families, Urban
Goal: The mission of HKES&I is to increase access to needed healthcare for children. This is accomplished through the goal of identifying children who need further follow-up, particularly for hearing and vision problems, and to connect them to those services.
Impact: Healthy Kids Express Screening and Immunization program is successful in providing evidence based care to low-income populations and for connecting those identified with screening needs to needed follow-up care.