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 Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Respiratory Diseases, Children, Teens, Families
Goal: The mission of the Healthy Kids Express Asthma Program is to provide quality asthma care and education to children with asthma and their caretakers in a school environment to work towards goals set by Healthy People 2020 and the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP).
Impact: The Healthy Kids Express Asthma Program serves approximately 600 children a year, improving inhaler technique and asthma knowledge among participants. Children enrolled in the program for two consecutive years have lower school absentee rates and hospitalizations due to asthma.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Educational Attainment, Children
Goal: As a national, primarily residential training program, Job Corps' mission is to attract eligible young adults, teach them the skills they need to become employable and independent, and place them in meaningful jobs or further education.
Impact: Evaluations showed that Job Corps substantially increased the education and training that program participants received. Nearly 90% of the program group engaged in some education or training (both in and out of Job Corps), compared with about 64% of the control group.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The Latino Commission on AIDS focuses its efforts on HIV/AIDS in the Latino community through health advocacy, promoting HIV education, developing model prevention programs for high-risk communities, and building capacity in community organization.
Impact: As the only provider of Spanish language HIV treatment, the Latino Commission on AIDS has created a model of public health that uses training, outreach, prevention and culturally sensitive care for Latinos living with HIV/AIDS.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Families
Goal: Let’s Move! is dedicated to solving the problem of obesity within a generation so that kids born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams.
Impact: Among other improvements, the 4-year graduation rate for Menominee Indian High School increased from less than 60% in 2008 to 92% for the 2015-16 school year.
Public Health Surveillance and Communications Using Regional Emergency Medicine Internet (REMI) (Milwaukee, WI)
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment
Goal: The goal of this program is to provide real-time information about fast-breaking environmental hazards, communicable outbreaks, or terrorist events.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Teens
Goal: The goal of this program is to teach conflict-resolution skills to middle-school students.
Impact: Studies showed a statistically significant increase in students' awareness of how their own behaviors contribute to the escalation of a conflict situation for students participating in SMARTteam when compared with the control group not receiving the intervention. Students in the intervention group were also less likely to value violence as an option in conflict situations than their peers in the control group.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes
Goal: The goal of this program is to improve diabetes care in Missouri.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases
Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends interventions that reduce client out-of-pocket costs used alone or combined with additional interventions to increase vaccination rates among people of all ages in a range of settings and populations. This includes interventions for individual clinical settings, statewide programs, or national efforts.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults
Goal: The Matter of Balance/Volunteer Lay Leader (MOB/VLL) program is designed to reduce the fear of falling, stop the fear of falling cycle, and improve the activity levels among community-dwelling older adults. The goal of the program is to use volunteer lay leaders as facilitators, in order to make the program affordable to offer in the community setting.
Impact: When following up one year after the program, participants reported significant gains in fall management and there was a trend to increased exercise level as well. In addition, participants sustained a reduction in monthly falls.