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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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Try This (New York, NY)

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

Goal: The goal of the Try This: Best Practices in Care for Older Adults series of assessment tools is to provide knowledge of best practices in the care of older adults that is:

- easily accessible
- easily understood
- easily implemented, and
- to encourage the use of these best practices by all direct care nurses

Turn it Off - Toronto's program to reduce car idling (Toronto)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation, Adults, Urban

Goal: Toronto’s “Turn it Off” initiative sought to encourage motorists to avoid idling their cars when picking up or dropping off at school or at public transportation terminals, which in turn would improve air quality and help reduce urban contribution to climate change.

Twin Cities RISE! (Minneapolis / St. Paul, MN)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Employment, Adults, Urban

Goal: The mission of Twin Cities RISE! is to provide employers with skilled workers - primarily men from communities of color in the Twin Cities area - by training under and unemployed adults for skilled jobs that pay a living wage of at least $20,000 annually.

Unite for Sight Eyeglass Drives

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide eyeglasses to people in developing countries and to involve students in improving conditions in developing countries.

Vestey Center (Superior, NE)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Community & Business Resources, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of the Vestey Center is to provide vital services and resources to the elderly of Superior, Nebraska and serve as a community center for the larger community.

Village Building Convergence (Portland, Oregon)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Urban

Goal: The goal of VBC is to recreate a sense of kinmanship and collaboration through community building and the creative reclamation of public space.

Volunteers in Neighborhood Services (VINS) (Rancho Cordova, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Urban

Goal: The goal of the program is to use volunteerism to instill community pride while promoting and improving the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of Rancho Cordova.

West Virginia's Coordinated School Health Program (West Virginia)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve the health and fitness of students in West Virginia.

WeViva (Austin, TX)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The mission is to provide affordable and accessible fitness and nutrition programs to people in low-income communities.

Who Do You Tell? (Calgary, Canada)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to help students learn to identify and report sexual abuse.

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.