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.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Families
Goal: The primary goal of GGC is to reduce youth substance abuse and problem behaviors by increasing family involvement that is rewarding and enhances parent-child bonds.
Impact: Significant positive effects on increasing family involvement and interaction and reducing youth substance abuse were observed. A cost-benefit analysis estimates a $5.85 benefit for every dollar invested in the program.
Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Urban
Goal: ReStore Kansas City was created to be an entrepreneurial, fundraising arm for Habitat for Humanity Kansas City through sales of donated new and used building materials, furniture and appliances. By salvaging useable materials from people who no longer need them, ReStore is saving space in landfills, giving the public affordable materials, and helping to further the mission of affordable housing in the Kansas City area.
Impact: Two stores raised more than $5 million and approximately 60,000,000 lbs. of material were diverted from going into the local landfill.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Children, Families
Goal: The goal of Early Head Start (EHS) is to promote healthy prenatal outcomes for pregnant women, enhance the development of very young children, and promote healthy family functioning. The goal of Head Start is to increase school readiness of young children in low-income families.
Impact: Studies have demonstrated positive effects of the program for both 3- and 4-year-old children on pre-reading, pre-writing, vocabulary, and parent reports of children’s literacy skills. For 3-year-olds, a greater number of parents reported improved access to health care and better health status.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Teens, Families, Urban
Goal: The mission of Head to Toe is to teach children and their families the skills to manage body weight as they grow by living a healthy lifestyle that includes regular physical activity, healthy eating habits, and a positive self-image.
Impact: From August 2011 to May 2016, 485 children and their parents or guardians have enrolled in the Head to Toe program. Head to Toe has effectively increased knowledge of nutrition, physical activity and emotional health among participants.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education
Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends center-based early childhood education programs (ECE) to improve educational outcomes that are associated with long-term health as well as social- and health-related outcomes. Economic evidence indicates there is a positive return on investment in early childhood education. The benefits from students' future earnings gains alone exceed program costs.
If targeted to low-income or racial and ethnic minority communities, ECE programs are likely to reduce educational achievement gaps, improve the health of these student populations, and promote health equity.
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Governance
Goal: The goal of Health in All Policies is to ensure that health effects are routinely taken into consideration when developing policy.
Impact: Health in All Policies initiatives have helped create healthier communities through implementing policies with health consequences in mind. For many counties, this includes creating cross-agency teams and workgroups to address problems in their community.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Other Conditions, Adults, Older Adults
Goal: The program is focused on reduction of pain and improvement of function for arthritis patients unable or unwilling to attend small group ASMPs, which have proven effective in changing health-related behaviors and improving health status measures.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children
Goal: The goal of the HOPS program was to improve overall health status and academic achievement using replicable strategies.
Impact: The HOPS intervention helped students who qualified for free or reduced price meals both stay within the normal BMI percentile and score higher on their state math achievement test.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families
Goal: Program goals include prevention of negative birth outcomes (low birth weight, substance abuse, criminal activity, child abuse, and neglect), increased parenting skills, healthy pregnancy practices, and the use of social systems.
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Children, Families
Goal: The goals of HFNY are to promote positive parent-child interaction; to ensure optimal pre-natal care; to promote healthy childhood growth and development; and to enhance family functioning.
Impact: Mothers participating in the HFNY study were significantly less likely to deliver low-birth-weight babies than mothers in the control group (3.3% vs 8.3%). HFNY parents also reported having engaged in significantly fewer acts of serious abuse and neglect.