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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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Mailed Brochure for Colorectal Screening (Denver, CO)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults

Goal: The goal of this mailing is to increase colorectal cancer screening completion rates.

Impact: Colonoscopy screening adherence rates in the intervention group of the trial were higher than the rates in the control group.

Man 2 Man Sexual Health Seminars (Minnesota)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Men

Goal: To reduce unprotected anal intercourse between men and decrease the incidence of HIV among gay and bisexual men that have sex with men.

My Mouth Matters (England)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Oral Health, Children

Goal: The goal of My Mouth Matters was to raise dental health awareness, improve knowledge, and reduce plaque.

PACE MySteps: A Web-based Behavior Change Program for Adolescent Weight Loss

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: To facilitate behavior change among adolescents such that the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors yields weight loss and sustained weight control.

Present and Prevent (Florida)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The purpose of Present and Prevent is to educate teens about the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle in order to prevent obesity.

Project Sixteen (Oregon)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of Project SixTeen is to reduce the use of adolescent tobacco use by utilizing a comprehensive community intervention approach.

Promoting Adult Health and Development with an Intergenerational Program (College Park, MD)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of AHDP is to encourage health promotion by using a strategy primarily directed at postponement of chronic illness and improvement of vitality through increased physical, psychological and social activity.

Protecting You/Protecting Me

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of the curriculum is to prevent injury and death of children and youth due to alcohol-related incidents.

RealBenefits (Boston, MA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goals of RealBenefits are to allow users to 1) maximize benefits designed to promote self-sufficiency and stability for low-income families and their communities; 2) create capacity in public and private health and human service agencies that increases services offered to low-income families and maximizes revenues; and 3) promote change in public benefit application systems.

Reducing the Risk- Rural schools (Arkansas)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens

Goal: The goal of the program was to reduce the risk for pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease by one or more of the following behaviors: a delay in initiating sexual intercourse; a reduction in the number of sexual partners and acts of intercourse; or an increase in contraception use.

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.