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 / Oral Health, Children, Women
The Early Childhood Cavities Prevention Program (ECCPP) is a community-based intervention program to promote preventive oral care for both mothers and their infants in Klamath County, Oregon.
The Early Childhood Cavities Prevention Program (ECCPP) educates pregnant women about dental hygiene to prevent dental infection in their children. Ninety-three percent of all participating infants were 100% cavity-free on their second birthday.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle, Children
The goals of this program are to increase developmentally appropriate physical activity, to increase the consumption of fruit and vegetables by children, and to increase the consumption of low-fat milk products and calcium-rich foods. The long-range goal is to incorporate this theme into the life of Lorain County children through collaboration with schools, agencies and facilities that provide services and activities for children and their families.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The Emergency Room Intervention for Suicidal Adolescent Females focuses on changing the conceptualization of suicidal behavior and expectations for therapy, thereby increasing attendance at outpatient therapy and decreasing future suicide risk.
The intervention increases the likelihood of follow-up treatment in an outpatient clinic and reduces suicide risk among adolescent females who have visited an emergency room due to a suicide attempt.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults
The goal of EnhanceFitness is to encourage older adults to engage in regular physical activity to improve their health and well-being.
EnhanceFitness participants reported a 13% improvement in social function, a 52% improvement in depression, and a 35% improvement in physical functioning. Additionally, participants' healthcare costs were 21% less than those of non-participants after one year.
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Public Safety, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural
In an effort to prepare and engage community residents to take a more participatory role in their communities, Monterey County Health Department (MCHD) developed and has offered since 2014 a leadership and civic engagement program (enLACE) that addresses the social determinants of health, community engagement and their relationship to the health of the community.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Environmental Justice, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
The goal of the Environmental Health Leadership Training is to inform and empower the predominately low income people of three urban communities in Northern Manhattan (Central Harlem, West Harlem, and Washington Heights) to improve their capacity to organize for community environmental health and justice in New York City. The long term goal of these efforts is to help intervene and reduce exposure to environmental toxicants which are adversely affecting the health of disadvantaged, medically underserved, predominantly African American and Latino populations in Northern Manhattan.
Environmental Improvements Brought by the Legal Interventions in the Homes of Poorly Controlled Inner-City Adult Asthmatic Patients (New York City, New York)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Urban
The goal is to use a medical-legal collaborative intervention to force landlords into maintaining healthy living conditions for residents with poorly controlled asthma.
This proof-of concept study exhibits that medical-legal collaboration can significantly impact the control of inner-city asthmatics by improving their domestic environment.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity
MANNA uses nutrition to improve health for people with serious illnesses who need nourishment to heal. By providing medically tailored meals and nutrition education, we empower people to improve their health and quality of life.
MANNA members report significant health care cost reductions due to improved health.
Filed under Good Idea, Education / Literacy, Families
The program's goal is to provide school readiness activities for families with children, from birth to five years old, who live in isolated and under-served areas of Marin County.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Poverty, Adults, Women, Men, Families, Urban
Salzer MS, Schwenk E, Brusilovskiy E: Certified peer specialist roles and activities: results from a national survey. Psychiatric Services 61:520–523, 2010.
Repper J, Carter T: A review of the literature on peer support in mental health services. Journal of Mental Health 20: 392–411, 2011.
Cook JA: Peer-delivered wellness recovery services: from evidence to widespread implementation. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal 35:87–89, 2011