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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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San Francisco Working Families Credit (San Francisco)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Government Assistance, Families, Urban

Goal: The WFC has three primary objectives:
-increasing the federal EITC take-up rate;
-promoting asset-building; and
-retaining families in San Francisco.

Santa Barbara Car Free Project (Santa Barbara)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Transportation, Children, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: The project's mission is to encourage car free, carefree travel to and around Santa Barbara for cleaner air and a healthier planet.

Save Money and the Environment Too (San Francisco Bay Area, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: Through regional media campaigns BayROC promotes personal action and behavior change to reduce waste.

Seattle Social Development Project (Seattle, WA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Urban

Goal: The mission of SSDP is to understand and promote healthy behaviors and positive social development among children, adolescents, and young adults.

Senior Companions (North Tazewell, VA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults

Goal: The goal of the Senior Companion program is to pair low-income adult volunteers with homebound older adults in order to provide senior services to the elderly, as well as provide benefits to the Senior Companions.

Senior Corps (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Civic Engagement, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of this program is to match seniors with volunteer opportunities.

Senior Peer Counseling Program (Salem, OR)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The mentoring process is designed to help clients work through feelings and emotions, to recognize strengths and coping skills, and to redirect life toward greater meaning and purpose.

Setting up a Kids Voting Program to Increase Civic Participation (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Civic Engagement, Children

Goal: The goal of Kids Voting USA is to foster civic awareness at an early age to deal with the problems of voter apathy and nonparticipation.

SEXINFO: A Sexual Health Text Messaging Service for San Francisco Youth (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The mission of SEXINFO is to provide sexual health information to those at high risk for acquiring STIs in San Francisco, CA.

Simply Delivered Meals for ME (Maine)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality

Goal: The goal of this specialized meal delivery program called Simply Delivered for ME (SDM) was to improve care and reduce 30-day hospital readmission rates for those eligible for the program.

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.