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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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Flex Your Power Case Study: Natural Resources Defense Council (Santa Monica, CA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability

Goal: The goal of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Robert Redford Building is to provide an example of sustainable and efficient design.

Signs to Promote Stair Use (El Paso, TX )

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle, Adults, Women, Men, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: To increase physical activity among Hispanic populations by promoting the use of stairways.

The Campaign for a Sustainable Milwaukee (Milwaukee, WI)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Employment, Urban

Goal: Sustainable Milwaukee's four task forces address major priorities: jobs and training, credit, transportation and the environment, and education.

Asthma Self-Management Program (North Carolina)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Respiratory Diseases, Teens, Adults

Goal: The goal of the Asthma Self-Management Program is to improve asthma self-management and outcome.

Be Active Kids® (North Carolina)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children

Goal: The goal of the Be Active Kids program is to promote healthy lifestyles and good healthy by giving young children the tools they need to develop positive physical activity and nutrition habits.

Bicultural Competence Skills Approach

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of the Bicultural Competence Skills Approach is to prevent substance abuse by Native American adolescents.

Campesinos Diabetes Management Program (Yuma County, AZ)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The goal of the Campesinos Diabetes Management Program was build social support as a means to improve self-management of diabetes.

Community Building in Grinnell (Grinnell, IA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Civic Engagement, Rural

Goal: The primary goal of the CBIG initiative is two-fold: to systematically change the way young people and adults in our community perceive conflict and how they respond to and resolve disputes.

Engaging Elementary Students with Seniors in a Bird Feeder Project (Lewiston, ID)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of the project was to find a way for elementary school children to learn about the environment and participate in community service.

Enrolling and Supporting Organizations Who Encourage Donation of Organs, Marrow, Tissue, or Blood (Buncombe County, NC)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Civic Engagement

Goal: In May, 2002, the Buncombe County Medical Society committed to enrolling 100 organizations into the Workplace Partnership initiative. BCMS declared itself "community headquarters" for recruiting Buncombe County businesses and organizations in the Workplace Partnership for Life program, and implemented a plan to support these organizations in their efforts to urge donation.

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.
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