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.

Submit a Promising Practice

Availability and Consumption of Drinking Water in Middle Schools: A Pilot Study (Los Angeles)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: To improve drinking water consumption among adolescents.

Impact: This study shows that provision of filtered, chilled drinking water in school cafeterias coupled with promotion and education is associated with increased consumption of drinking water at school.

Baby, Be Safe (Washington D.C.)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Children, Families

Goal: The goal of Baby, Be Safe is to increase the use of child injury prevention measures.

Impact: Participants who received tailored educational materials reported greater adoption of home and car safety behaviors than those receiving generic information. This study offers promising findings to help prevent injuries to young children.

Be a Star (St Louis, MO)

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

Goal: The Be a Star program was developed to help preadolescents gain the knowledge and skills necessary to resist drugs.

Impact: During the third year of the evaluation, very strong differences emerged between intervention and control groups. The treatment groups scored significantly higher on the scales rating family bonding, pro-social behavior, self-concept, self-control, decision-making, emotional awareness, assertiveness, cooperation, attitudes toward drugs and alcohol, self-efficacy, attitudes toward African-American culture, and school bonding.

Becoming a Responsible Teen (BART) (Jackson, Mississippi)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Family Planning, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goals of this intervention include: increasing information and skills to make sound choices, increasing abstinence, and eliminating or reducing sex risk behaviors.

Impact: Among teens who participated, there was a decrease in sexual activity compared to those who did not participate in the program. Also among participants, there was an increase in sexual intercourse occasions that were condom-protected.

Bingocize: Using Games to Improve Balance, Mobility and ADL's (Owensboro, KY)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of Bingocize is to improve mobility, balance, and ADL's in older adult populations.

Bootheel Heart Health Project (Missouri)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Rural

Goal: The goal of the Bootheel Heart Health Project was to reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease and decrease morbidity and mortality due to cardiovascular disease.

Border Binge-Drinking Reduction Program (Tijuana, Mexico)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce public health and safety problems related to U.S. teen & binge drinking in Mexico.

Impact: With IPS leadership, there was a reduction in youth nighttime crashes by 45% and 37% fewer nighttime crossers with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or higher.

Boston Public Schools Snack and Beverage Policy (Boston, MA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: To decrease consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in Boston public schools.

Impact: Data from Boston youth indicated that policy changes restricting the sale of sugar-sweetened beverages in schools can cause significant reductions in consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and are promising strategies to reduce adolescents’ intake of unnecessary calories.

Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention of College Students (BASICS) (Seattle, WA)

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

Goal: The aims of the BASICS program are 1) to reduce alcohol consumption and its adverse consequences, 2) to promote healthier choices among young adults, and 3) to provide important information and coping skills for risk reduction.

Impact: Students who received a brief individual preventive intervention had significantly greater reductions in negative consequences that persisted over a 4-year period than their control-group counterparts. For those individuals receiving the brief intervention, dependence symptoms were more likely to decrease and less likely to increase.

Brief Strategic Family Therapy (Miami, FL)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Teens, Families

Goal: The goal of BSFT is to improve a youth's behavior problems by improving family interactions that are presumed to be directly related to the child's symptoms, thus reducing risk factors and strengthening protective factors for adolescent drug abuse and other conduct problems.

Impact: Adolescents who participated in BSFT showed a significantly greater reduction in conduct problems than adolescents in the comparison condition, who received a participatory-learning group intervention. BSFT participants also showed a significantly greater reduction in socialized aggression.

An Effective Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

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.
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:

The program description includes: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program funding source, program implementation steps and outcomes.
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:

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.
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.
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.