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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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Aspirnaut™ Program (Arkansas, Maine, Montana, Tennessee)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / School Environment, Children, Teens, Rural

Goal: The goal of the program is to elevate math and science achievement of students in rural communities through the use of technology.

Avon Park Youth Academy and Street Smart Program (Florida)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens

Goal: The program’s goal is to provide specialized, remedial education and intensive vocational training to moderate risk youth committed to Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice.

Be a Blue Buddy (Jacksonville, FL)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Cancer, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The mission of the Be a Blue Buddy campaign is to educate the community about colorectal cancer, to raise awareness about the importance of screening and early detection, to give hope to newly diagnosed patients, and to save lives.

Impact: Be a Blue Buddy has helped raise awareness and create a dialogue for colorectal cancer. Grace De La Rosa began Be a Blue Buddy in 2014 and has reached several thousand people in her community and nationwide.

Bicycle Education Enhancement Program (BEEP) (Pennsylvania)

Filed under Good Idea, Art & Recreation / Sports Recreation & Parks, Children, Teens, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal of the program is to provide middle and high school students in the greater Philadelphia are with education and tools to become life-long cyclists.

Boys and Girls Club Gang Prevention Through Targeted Outreach

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to decrease gang-related activity and to increase socially positive interactions for children and adolescents.

Bridging the Gap (Seattle)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation, Urban

Goal: The nine-year goals of Bridging the Gap are to:
* Reduce the infrastructure maintenance backlog.
* Pave and repair Seattle streets.
* Make seismic upgrades to the most vulnerable bridges.
* Improve pedestrian and bicycle safety and create safe routes to schools.
* Increase transit speed and reliability.

Buncombe County Project Access (Buncombe County, NC)

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

Goal: The goal of Project Access is to improve access to specialty health care in Buncombe County.

CareSouth Carolina and the Northeastern Rural Health Network (South Carolina)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Adults, Rural

Goal: The goal of CareSouth Carolina and Northeastern Rural Health Network is to improve the behavioral health wellness of patients and residents.

Impact: The partnership between CareSouth Carolina and Northeastern Rural Health Network has reduced the stigma regarding mental health issues, improved care coordination, and increased the likelihood that patients receive the physical and mental health support they need in order to be healthy.

Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program (USA)

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

Goal: The Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program's goal is to provide comprehensive youth development services and reduce teen pregnancy among economically disadvantaged teenagers.

Impact: Pregnancy prevention programs can work successfully among females when started early in adolescence and when male counterparts are also educated appropriately on condom-use and delayed sexual actively onset.

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.