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 Effective Practice, Health, Older Adults, Urban
Goal: The goal of the program was to target the housing support needs of its members with the objective of reducing institutionalization, improving quality of life, and reducing total costs of care.
Impact: The large majority of participants surveyed indicated that their quality of life was maintained or increased during the pilot and that they were satisfied with the program.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Public Safety, Older Adults
Goal: The Pennsylvania Department of Aging offers this fall risk screening and prevention program to adults 50 years of age and older. The program is designed to raise awareness of falls, introduce steps on how to reduce falls, improve overall health, and provide referrals and resources.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The goal of the program is to increase fruit and vegetable consumption behavior in participants of the Women, Infants, and Children program in Genessee County, Michigan.
Impact: Participants of the program increased their fruit and vegetable consumption and the program had a positive effect on participants attitudes toward consuming fruits and vegetables.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / School Environment, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce youth violence and aggressive behavior by initiating prevention early in childhood, increasing children's resilience, and reinforcing positive behaviors.
Impact: One evaluation found that there was an 89% decrease in physical aggression and an 82% decrease in verbal aggression for participating students.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants
Goal: The goal of Project SWAT is to reduce the population of mosquitoes potentially carrying West Nile Virus by applying larvicide to common breeding habitats.
Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Housing & Homes, Older Adults, Urban
Goal: The goal of renewal house is to reduce homelessness of older individuals in Greater Danbury Area, CT, by providing safe, secure housing, renewing a sense of hope, reinforcing self-worth and restoring dignity and confidence.
Goal: The goal of the program was to recognize and address the diversity of local health disparities by marshaling local community involvement in the place-based Health Equity Zones.
Impact: The framework established through the Health Equity Zones allows for the continued collaboration between governmental public health entities and stakeholders in the community to address health disparities.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children
Goal: To create a sustainable school lunch program that incorporated healthier food items by leveraging the combined efforts of several school districts.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants, Children, Teens, Adults
Goal: The mission of the Safer Homes Program is to help residents to create healthy comes for their families in order to prevent environmentally related health problems such as lead poisoning, asthma, mold, and moisture.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens, Urban
Goal: The primary goal of the School Lunch Initiative is to transform the way Berkeley public school students eat lunch and to educate children about food, health, and the environment.
Impact: Three years after its conception, the program successfully eliminated nearly all processed foods from the school district dining halls and introduced fresh and organic foods to the daily menu. There was evidence that greater exposure to the School Lunch Initiative was significantly associated with higher nutrition knowledge scores among fourth graders and seventh graders. Furthermore, elementary school students from the schools with highly developed School Lunch Initiative components clearly expressed a higher preference for fruits and vegetables.