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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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Missouri Information for Community Assessment (MICA) (Missouri)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Cancer

Goal: The goal of this project is to educate citizens, health professionals, researchers, and policy makers about cancer in Missouri. Complete, timely, and high-quality data are essential for conducting research and responding to public concerns about cancer incidence in their communities.

Missouri's Community Water Fluoridation Program (Missouri)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Oral Health, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Missouri’s Community Water Fluoridation Program is to prevent dental caries and to reduce the associated health costs.

Mix It Up!

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Civic Engagement, Children, Teens

Goal: Mix It Up seeks to create inclusive school communities by breaking down social barriers and conflicts that lead to bullying and violence.

MyTeachingPartner-Secondary - Teacher Training, Evaluation, and Compensation (Charlottesville, VA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education, Adults

Goal: MyTeachingPartner, or MTP, is a system of professional-development supports developed through the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning. MTP improves teacher-student interactions, which in turn, increases student learning and development.

National Night Out (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of National Night Out is to strengthen community and law enforcement relationships and educate communities about crime and drug prevention.

National Produce Program (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Poverty

Goal: To increase the amount of fresh produce and nutritious foods that are distributed to local food banks across the United States through the Feeding America network.

Native American Tribes Adopt Tobacco Protections (Montana)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: To create successful smoke-free strategies that are rooted in cultural tradition.

Impact: By recognizing the cultural traditions of sacred tobacco use, an inter-tribal coalition was successful in implementing culturally appropriate tobacco protections for tribal members.

Native American Women's Wellness Program (Washington)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Cancer, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this program is to encourage screening and early detection of cancer among American Indian women.

Natural Gas STAR (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Air

Goal: Reduce methane emissions from natural gas operations by identifying and promoting the implementation of mitigation technologies and management practices.

Need for Control: Downshift (Sonoma )

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Prevention & Safety, Teens

Goal: To prevent death and injury from car crashes among teens by reducing driving speed and driver distractions.

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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