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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.

Please note: Separate your search terms with spaces, and use quotes to search for specific text (example: "mental health"). 

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Seat Belt Enforcement Zones (Marion County, IN)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation, Families

Goal: Indiana has a primary seat belt law which enables law enforcement officers to issue citations when they are observed. However, the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that officers may not indiscriminately stop motorists to see if they are wearing their seat belts. To increase safety belt usage compliance, members of the Traffic Safety Partnership developed Seat Belt Enforcement Zones. The primary objectives of these enforcement zones are to: combine public awareness initiatives and enforcement efforts; utilize multi-agency personnel from participating law enforcement agencies; operate on a zero tolerance policy for violations; inform residents about current seat belt usage rates using metal signs posted at various county locations.

Sistering, Informing, Healing, Living, and Empowering (Birmingham, AL)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Family Planning, Teens, Women

Goal: The SiHLE intervention aims to reduce sexual risk behaviors among sexually experienced African American adolescents.

Spit Tobacco Intervention for High School Athletes (California)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent young athletes from using spit tobacco.

STEP (School Transitional Environmental Program) (Rhode Island)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / School Environment, Teens

Goal: The goals of this program are to decrease student anonymity, to increase student accountability, and to enhance students' abilities to learn school rules and exceptions.

Stopping Teenage Addiction to Tobacco (Illinois)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Governance, Teens

Goal: The aim of the program is to persuade merchants to obey the law by refusing to sell tobacco to minors.

Strengthening the Bonds of Chicano Youth and Families (Eloy, AZ)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of this project was to prevent substance abuse among high-risk youth in Arizona.

Impact: Participants in the experimental group experienced significant differences in family relations, significant decrease in alcohol and other drugs, and also a significant decrease of alcohol use by family members. Participants of the control group did not experience similar impacts.

Texas Emergency Department Asthma Surveillance (Houston and Galveston, TX)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Children

Goal: The goal of the TEDAS program is to reduce the number of pediatric asthma-related emergency room visits.

The Abuela Project (Yakima County, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Food Safety, Children, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The goal of the Abuela Project is to reduce the number of cases of salmonellosis caused by Salmonella Typhimurium due to consumption of queso fresco made from raw-milk in Yakima County, Washington.

The Bricklayers and Laborers Nonprofit Housing Corp (Boston, MA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes

Goal: The goal of this program is to create affordable housing targeted for low- and moderate-income first-time home buyers in downtown Boston.

The Care Team Network (USA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults

Goal: The goal of this program is to use a team model to offer practical, emotional, and spiritual support to individuals and families with health care concerns or other special needs.

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.