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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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Earn-A-Bike Boulder, Colorado (Boulder, CO)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Transportation, Children, Adults, Urban

Goal: The mission of Earn-A-Bike is to educate and advocate the safe use of refurbished bicycles as affordable transportation.

Educating and Delivering Financial Services to Low-Income, Underserved Residents and Businesses (Cuyahoga County, OH)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Investment & Personal Finance, Families

Goal: The goal is to offer members of poor and underserved communities ownership in an established financial cooperative. By purchasing shares in the Faith Community United Credit Union (FCUCU), individuals gain access to services and learn the difference between using what belongs to someone else and owning their own institution.

Ellis Street Apartments (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Urban

Goal: To provide an independent living situation with support services for at-risk youths aged 18 to 24.

Enhanced Ranch Program (Santa Clara)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens, Families

Goal: ERP’s main objective is to provide therapeutic services to youth in the juvenile justice system and their families while maintaining a commitment to public safety.

Family Nutrition Health Education Program (Greenwood, South Carolina)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Food Insecurity, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The objectives of the FNHE program are to reduce incidents of chronic disease and improve nutrient intake and general quality of life by:

• Access to food that meets nutritional needs
• Preparing and serving meals that are nutritious
• Managing food-related resources, including WIC and SNAP
• Access to benefits available through other community agencies and services
• Increased knowledge about physical activity

Farmworker Case Management Across Borders (Putnam County, FL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the Farmwork Case Management Across Borders program is to improve migrant and seasonal farm worker health.

Feet First (Seattle, WA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity

Goal: The goals of this organization are to promote the rights and interests of pedestrians and to encourage walking.

Fight The Bite Colorado (Tri-County, CO)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent the spread of this illness and protect human lives.

First 5 Power of Preschool (PoP) (California)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Families

Goal: The program's goal is to create free, high-quality preschool opportunities for children in California and help guide efforts to create a statewide preschool system.

Fit Kids (Westchester )

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity

Goal: The Fit Kids program aims to increase physical activity and healthy eating by creating healthy school environments that promote health and wellness.

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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