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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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Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School (Upton, MA)

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

Goal: The school's philosophy is "to provide the individual student with the academic and vocational/technical skills essential to achieve success in a productive career as well as to provide the global community with a highly qualified and prepared workforce."

Blessings in a Backpack

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Civic Engagement, Children, Families

Goal: The mission of the Blessings in a Backpack program is to help meet the nutritional needs of children by providing weekend meals for children and generating public awareness on the issue of child hunger.

Blueprint to End Homelessness (Indianapolis, IN)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal of Blueprint to End Homelessness is to prevent people from becoming homeless and to improve access to services for those currently experiencing homelessness.

Bob Janes Triage Center and Low Demand Shelter (Fort Myers, FL)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Bob Janes Triage Center and Low Demand Shelter is to reduce the number of individuals with mental illness or substance use disorders who are arrested and sent to the County jail for minor offenses.

BodyLove (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: BodyLove is a program of Media for Health, which develops, produces and evaluates entertaining programs that promote healthier living.

Bon Secours Community Works "Re-Entry Success" Program (Baltimore, MD)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention

Goal: The goal of the program is to empower individuals to look to themselves to support society after life in prison.

Impact: The program helps people adjust to life after prison.

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.

Brainfood (Washington, D.C.)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of Brainfood is to engage young people in healthy, creative cooking activities to build life skills and promote healthy living.

Breathe Better Air at School (South Carolina)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Air, Children, Teens, Adults

Goal: The Breathe Better Air at School Program aims to educate parents, staff, bus drivers, and faculty about the importance of not idling vehicles on campus.

Breathe Better Campaign (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Respiratory Diseases, Adults, Women, Older Adults

Goal: To increase awareness, understanding, diagnosis and treatment options for people with COPD.

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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