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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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Keystone Ancient Forest Preserve (Sand Springs, OK)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families

Goal: The goal of the Keystone Forest Preserve is to preserve the land from being developed, protect its unique ecosystems, and serve as an outdoor space for visitors to enjoy and a beautiful setting for Highway 412.

Kosher Meals for the Homebound (New York, NY)

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

Goal: Kosher Meals for the Homebound is a program of Dorot, which alleviates social isolation among the elderly and provides services to help them live independently as valued members of the community.

La Cocina (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Income, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The mission of La Cocina is to cultivate low-income food entrepreneurs as they formalize and grow their businesses by providing affordable commercial kitchen space, industry-specific technical assistance, and access to market opportunities.

Impact: La Cocina supports dozens of successful food businesses run by low-income women and people from immigrant communities.

La Posada Hotel (Winslow, Arizona)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Economic Climate

Goal: The goal of the restoration of La Posada Hotel was to preserve and restore the hotel as a historic landmark, and to reinvigorate the economy of Winslow, Arizona.

Lark-Inn (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: To provide a temporary and safe housing solution to homeless adolescents and young adults aged 18-24.

Lawndale Health Promotion Project (Chicago, IL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Lawndale Health Promotion Project was to eliminate health disparities in type 2 diabetes and heart disease among Hispanics and African Americans.

Lead Free Wheels (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The "Lead Free Wheels" program has three goals:

- direct reduction of 6,000-7,500 kg of lead use on vehicles in Michigan and the Midwest;
- demonstrate the viability of lead-free wheel weight installation at Michigan tire retailers, state and municipal fleets and other points vehicle service and:
- encourage domestic production of lead-free wheel weights and a phase out of lead use in wheel weights.

Learn To Be ... Tobacco Free (Suffolk County, NY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use

Goal: The goals of this program are to prevent the next generation from becoming addicted to nicotine, to help those addicted to quit, and to reduce exposure to environmental tobacco smoke for all residents.

Linking Learning to Life (Chittenden County, VT)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment, Children, Teens

Goal: The mission of LLL is to improve the educational performance and advancement, and the employment and career prospects of all Chittenden County students.

Live Well Omaha Kids (Omaha, NE)

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

Goal: The mission of Live Well Omaha Kids is to help all children living in Omaha achieve improvements in nutrition and physical activity.

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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