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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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Strong Seniors (Reno, KS)

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

Goal: The goal of the program is to promote health and prevent injury among seniors through a series of community-based strength training classes.

Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) (Wisconsin)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to increase the academic achievement of children living in poverty.

Summer Bridge (Marin)

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

Goal: The program's goal is to help four- and five-year old children become better prepared for kindergarten.

Supermarket Recycling Program (Massachusetts)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability

Goal: The goal of the Supermarket Recycling Program is to encourage supermarkets to develop programs to recycle and reuse organic waste and other materials.

Supermarket Savvy: Learn to shop healthy at the supermarket

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity

Goal: To educate consumers how to shop for health and to make healthy grocery shopping easy and enjoyable. To enable health professionals to educate their patients on shopping for health.

Support Healthy Active Kids in Education (SHAKE) (Sonoma, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children

Goal: The goal of the SHAKE program is to use elementary school-based programming to promote childhood health and fitness.

Supporting Adolescents with Guidance and Employment (SAGE) (Durham County, NC)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment, Children, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The purpose of the first component, ROP, is to develop a strong sense of African-American cultural pride and ethnic identity in the participants and instill a sense of responsibility in their community, their peers, and themselves. The second component, the JTP experience, places youths in summer jobs at desirable work sites such as dentist offices, local museums, and recreational centers. The third component, JA, teaches how to develop and implement a small business.

Sustainable Rain (Seattle)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Urban

Goal: The goal of Sustainable Rain is to create opportunities for businesses to lead a tangible sustainable landscape project, as well as to increase community awareness of sustainability.

Sustainable Slopes (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Built Environment

Goal: The mission of the members of Sustainable Slopes is to be leaders among outdoor recreation providers through managing their businesses in a way that demonstrates their commitment to environmental protection and stewardship while meeting the expectations of the public.

Switch What You Do, View, and Chew (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children

Goal: To increase healthy lifestyles in children ages 8-10 years old by increasing physical activity and vegetable and fruit consumption and decreasing time spent in front of the television in order to prevent childhood obesity.

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.