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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 Psychoeducational Intervention for Colorectal Cancer Screening (England)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve colorectal cancer screening rates among older adults.

Impact: Participants in the intervention group had significantly higher colorectal cancer screening attendance, as well as having more positive attitudes about screening and placing a higher priority on screening.

Rock Island Railroad Depot (Liberal, KS)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Community & Business Resources, Women, Men, Families, Rural

Goal: The goal of the renovation of the Rock Island Railroad Depot was to revitalize the city of Liberal, Kansas.

Business Case for Breastfeeding (Kansas)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Adults, Women, Families

Goal: To improve the health and well-being of Kansans by working collaboratively to promote, protect and support breastfeeding.

Impact: Investing in nursing employee support services has proven to produce a 3 to 1 ROI through greater employee retention, increased productivity, lower health care costs and decreased sick days.

Bard Prison Initiative (New York)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the Bard Prison Initiative is to prevent reincarceration by providing higher-education to prison populations.

Chronic Disease Self-Managment Education in a Recreation Setting (Sedgwick County, KS)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of this workshop is to build the participants’ self-confidence in their ability to manage their health and maintain active and fulfilling lives despite their chronic disease condition.

Impact: In 2016 Derby Health Collaborative hosted six free self-management education courses in partnership with the Derby School District, the Derby Senior Center, the Derby Public Library and the Kansas State Extension and Research Center. Workshops will continue in 2017.

Class Wide Peer Tutoring Program (Kansas City, KS)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve school performance through reciprocal peer tutoring.

Dramatic Health Education Project: STDs/HIV (Kansas City, MO)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Urban

Goal: The Coterie exists to provide professional classic and contemporary theater, which challenges the audience and artist alike, and to provide educational, dramatic outreach programs in the community. The Coterie seeks to open lines of communication between races, sexes and generations. The objectives of DHEP are to improve knowledge regarding HIV and STDs and reduce the intentions of teenagers to practice high-risk behavior. DHEP also continues to refine the culturally-specific dramatic workshops and ensure story lines are relevant to teenagers.

Impact: After watching this program, over 75% of students report that they would be less likely to practice high-risk sexual behavior.

DTaP Drop-off Quality Improvement Project (Wilson County, KS)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Children, Families, Rural

Goal: The goal of this program was to increase full DTaP series vaccination in Wilson County, Kansas.

Impact: Immunization completion rates increased from 70% to 82% after implementation.

Farm 2 School Lunch Program (Kansas and Missouri)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children

Goal: The goal of the Farm 2 School program is to improve the health and wellbeing of school-aged children and prevent childhood obesity by providing healthy, seasonal, and locally grown meals to children at school.

Free Community Colorectal Screening (Salina, KS)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Cancer, Adults, Rural

Goal: To get as many age appropriate people screened as possible in the community and to raise awareness about the life-saving practice of colorectal screening.

Impact: Many cancers have been found and many have been prevented. The population has expressed gratitude for this program and the partners (such as the pharmacies and the hospital lab) are proud to be part of it.

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.