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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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Families And Schools Together (FAST) (USA)

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

Goal: The overall goal of the FAST program is to intervene early to help at-risk youth succeed in the community, at home, and in school and thus avoid problems such as adolescent delinquency, violence, addiction, and dropping out of school.

Impact: FAST has generally improved aggressive behaviors and increased positive behaviors amongst participants as reported by teachers and parents.

Families in Action (Kennesaw, GA)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent substance abuse among youth.

Fast Track (USA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Teens

Goal: The main goals of this program are to increase communication and bonds between and among the three domains of school, home, and the individual; to enhance children's social, cognitive, and problem-solving skills; to improve peer relationships; and ultimately to decrease disruptive behavior at home and in school.

Fight The Bite Colorado (Tri-County, CO)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent the spread of this illness and protect human lives.

Flex Your Power Case Study: Vallejo Sanitation and Flood Control District (Vallejo, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: Vallejo Sanitation's goals in 2001 were to seek the most cost effective treatment of wastewater and to find financial rebates/grants where possible to implement cost saving measures. In order to qualify for generator replacement rebates, the agency needed to design and complete the project in a short time.

Foundations of Learning Project (Newark, New Jersey)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children

Goal: The program's goal was to improve child behavioral problems during the early preschool years.

Impact: The FOL program positively impacted preschool children's behavior in the classroom.

Functional Family Therapy

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide positive family strengthening resources to youth at risk and in need.

Get Movin' Challenge (Owensboro, KY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Adults, Families

Goal: The contest is designed as a fun way for community members to get more exercise, with a target of 30 minutes or more of physical activity per day.

Girls Inc. Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to decrease pregnancy in adolescent and teenage girls.

Impact: Those who participated in one or more program components were significantly less likely to experience pregnancy than nonparticipants (5.9% vs 12.3%). Those who participated in two or more program components were significantly less likely to engage in sexual intercourse without birth control than those who participated in only a single program component (8.9% vs 20.6%).

GIS Walking Maps (Boston, MA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: Walking maps are designed to encourage low-income individuals to increase their physical activity by providing information on safe walking routes and destinations within their neighborhood.

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.