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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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National Coalition for Food-Safe Schools

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Food Safety, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of the National Coalition for Food-Safe Schools is to reduce foodborne illness in the U.S. by improving food safety in schools.

Native American Tribes Adopt Tobacco Protections (Montana)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: To create successful smoke-free strategies that are rooted in cultural tradition.

Impact: By recognizing the cultural traditions of sacred tobacco use, an inter-tribal coalition was successful in implementing culturally appropriate tobacco protections for tribal members.

New York's Banking Development Districts (New York)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Investment & Personal Finance

Goal: The goal of the program is to increase access to financial services for low-income families as well as stimulate economic development in distressed neighborhoods.

North Carolina Breast Cancer Screening Program (North Carolina)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Cancer, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The goal of the North Carolina Breast Cancer Screening Program is to increase breast cancer screening among older African American women.

Parent Child Development Center

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Families

Goal: The goal of this program is to foster positive family relationships.

Partnering with a Bakery to Provide Breakfast to Low-Income Schools (United Kingdom)

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

Goal: The goal of this partnership is to provide a healthy breakfast to low-income students to help them perform better in school.

Partnership for Permanent Housing (Montgomery County, MD)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Housing & Homes

Goal: The goal of this program is to end homelessness for families by combining the case management component of transitional programs with quicker access to permanent housing.

PFC Emission Reduction Partnerships (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Air

Goal: EPA's partners have committed to reduce PFC emissions 10 percent below their 1995 baseline by 2010.

Project Access of Durham County (Durham, NC)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality

Goal: Project Access Durham County seeks to provide comprehensive healthcare to low-income, uninsured individuals residing in the county for at least six months.

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.