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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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Ethnic Cuisine in Elementary Schools (Seattle, WA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to introduce healthy eating habits in elementary schools to counter the recent increase in childhood obesity.

Exercise to Achievement (Madison, WI)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children

Goal: Tri 4 Schools encourages kids to participate in swimming, biking, and running as a way to live an active lifestyle and support health and fitness resources in schools.

Impact: Results of Exercise to Achievement are pending completion of the pilot program.

Exercise Training for Stroke Survivors (Chicago, IL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to use education and exercise improve outcomes for urban African American stroke survivors.

Fall Prevention (Dickinson County, Kansas)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Rural

Goal: To reduce the risk of falls among residents over 65 years of age through education in fall awareness and prevention.

Impact: After the program, participants spoke with healthcare providers regarding dizziness and medication side effects, scheduled overdue eye exams, and implemented home safety ideas to reduce the risk of falling.

Family Effectiveness Training

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children

Goal: The goal of FET is to strengthen families by increasing their ability to adapt to new situations, particularly developmental and cultural challenges the family will face.

Family Matters (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent tobacco and alcohol abuse among adolescents.

Family Place Libraries™ (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children, Teens

Goal: The mission of Family Place Libraries™ is to increase the capacity of libraries throughout the nation to recognize and realize their full potential as community hubs for healthy child and family development, parent and community involvement and lifelong learning beginning at birth.

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.

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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