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 / Nutrition & Healthy Eating, Rural
Goal: CVAN is the Kansas conduit for tons of healthy produce from the Catholic Charities Mary Martha Organization--the steward of excess highly perishable high quality foods from a huge Walmart Distribution Center in Oklahoma. As food supplies allow, CVAN distributes to the 100 square mile school district and to share with a networked family of pantries and volunteer organizations in five Kansas counties and South Coffeyville, OK. As needed, CVAN has recruited distribution volunteers in covering communities within this economically depressed region. The network family was built upon the CVAN’s supply of fresh produce, but is now blessing this area with distribution of CARES foods during the COVID crisis. Its volunteers are food warriors--winning in the fight against rural hunger.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to increase the proper usage of child safety seats in Washington County, NY.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults
Goal: To increase screening for breast cancer
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults, Women
Goal: To increase screening for cervical cancers
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Families
Goal: The programs’ mission is to inform and inspire parents and all who care about children so that every child may be happy, healthy, and thrive.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The mission of Communities Putting Prevention to Work: Cherokee Nation is to promote healthy eating, physical activity and increase tobacco cessation throughout the tribe’s jurisdictional boundaries.
Impact: Communities Putting Prevention to Work: Cherokee Nation works to prevent obesity and tobacco use through various programs including chronic disease screenings, farm-to-school programs, and smoking cessation classes available to all Cherokees in the service area.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Families
Goal: The purpose of the Community Supporting Breastfeeding (CSB) designation program is to create a culture of breastfeeding support in communities, ultimately increasing breastfeeding initiation and duration rates and the health and well-being of families.
The CSB program’s immediate goals are to increase positive perceptions toward breastfeeding, increase the availability of breastfeeding resources, and reduce barriers experienced in the community by women of child-bearing age. The long-term goal of the project is to increase exclusive breastfeeding rates through a sustainable model of cross-sector support for breastfeeding.
The project also effectively addresses the racial and socioeconomic disparities in breastfeeding rates. The Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition’s collective impact approach supports efforts of those serving African-American and lower income women. As a result of this project, these organizations receive the support they need to increase their impact when they become aligned with other, larger organizations working toward similar goals, creating a synergy across groups working on breastfeeding support.
Impact: Based on results from our evaluation, along with improved exclusive breastfeeding rates in the majority of the communities that could be associated with the CSB criteria, we believe the CSB program is impactful.
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens, Adults, Rural
Goal: The goal of the Community Corretions Program is to provide an alternative to incarceration by providing counseling to the offender and organizing integration back into the community through community service activities.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Families
Goal: The goal of this program is to improve the health of all its community members, while providing the same quality of service paid for by privately insured patients.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases
Goal: The initial goal of this group was to initiate communication between the private and public health care sectors in regards to influenza prevention planning. Once that communication was established and barriers were identified and addressed, the group identified the following goals: develop a common message for the general public regarding influenza vaccination, educate all health care providers regarding CDC influenza vaccination guidelines and encourage them to adhere to these guidelines, establish consistency in timing for vaccination clinics throughout the community and consistency in vaccination costs, and develop a local influenza surveillance system.