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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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Dramatic Health Education Project: STDs/HIV (Kansas City, MO)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Urban

Goal: The Coterie exists to provide professional classic and contemporary theater, which challenges the audience and artist alike, and to provide educational, dramatic outreach programs in the community. The Coterie seeks to open lines of communication between races, sexes and generations. The objectives of DHEP are to improve knowledge regarding HIV and STDs and reduce the intentions of teenagers to practice high-risk behavior. DHEP also continues to refine the culturally-specific dramatic workshops and ensure story lines are relevant to teenagers.

Impact: After watching this program, over 75% of students report that they would be less likely to practice high-risk sexual behavior.

Dump Your Plump (Johnson)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Adults, Rural

Goal: The goal of Dump Your Plump is to foster healthy eating and exercise habits through team-based competition.

Elev8 (Chicago, Oakland, Baltimore, and New Mexico)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: Elev8 brings together schools, families and the community in low-income areas to ensure that students succeed in school and in life.

Elizabeth River Project (Virginia)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants, Children, Teens, Adults

Goal: To restore the Elizabeth River to the highest practical level of environmental quality through government, business and community partnerships.

EMERGE (Minneapolis, MN)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Employment, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: Invest in people through social enterprise.

Environmental Prevention of DUI Among College Students (San Diego, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Public Safety, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to decrease driving under the influence among college students.

Ethnic Cuisine in Elementary Schools (Seattle, WA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to introduce healthy eating habits in elementary schools to counter the recent increase in childhood obesity.

Evaluating Risk and Promoting Public Advocacy (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The goal of the "Environmental Scorecard" is to compare the risks of different chemical releases through a combination of raw data on toxic releases and environmental and human health data.

Even Start (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children, Adults, Families

Goal: The Even Start Literacy Program is an education program for economically challenged families that is designed to improve the academic achievement of young children and their parents, especially in the areas of reading and language.

Every 15 Minutes (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Teens

Goal: The goal of Every 15 Minutes is to prevent deaths by highlighting the dangers associated with drunk driving and texting while driving.

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.