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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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HeartStrings (Dane, Wisconsin)

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

Goal: HeartStrings aims to enhance the quality of life for individuals with special needs. Through regularly-recurring, interactive sessions, the MSO’s Rhapsodie Quartet addresses the physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of hundreds of individuals each year in a comfortable and familiar setting.

HeartStrings mission statement is as follows:

1) To enhance the quality of life of underserved populations through live, interactive, and exceptional quality musical experiences that are informed by the American Music Therapy Association’s Standards of Practice.

2) To bring meaningful arts experiences directly to participants in a comfortable and
familiar setting.

3) To provide a valuable resource for facilities that serve aging populations, adults with dementia, and individuals with disabilities, or long-term illnesses.

Impact: HeartStrings has reached over 3,200 individuals with disabilities, long-term illness, and assisted-living needs, as well as aging adults with dementia since its start in 2006.

Hepatitis Outreach Network (HONE) (New York)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Hepatitis Outreach Network (HONE) is to prevent viral hepatitis among high risk adult, minority groups in New York City, as well as to provide screening and access to care.

HOMEBUILDERS

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Families

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent the unnecessary out-of-home placement of children through intensive, on-site intervention, and to teach families new problem-solving skills to prevent future crises.

HOPE Collaborative (Oakland)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Urban

Goal: HOPE's mission is to create fundamental and sustainable environmental changes that will significantly improve the health and wellness of Oakland residents.

Hypertension Treatment in Barbershops (Dallas, TX)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce blood pressure among African American men.

I Am Moving, I Am Learning (West Virginia)

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

Goal: The goals of the I Am Moving, I Am Learning program is to prevent childhood obesity by (1) increasing the quantity of time children spend in moderate to vigorous physical activity; (2) improving the quality of structured movement activities in the classroom; and (3) promoting healthy food choices among Head Start children.

I Have a Dream

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children

Goal: The "I Have a Dream"® Program helps children from low-income areas reach their education and career goals by providing a long-term program of mentoring, tutoring, and enrichment with an assured opportunity for higher education.

Imagination Library

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to promote children's imagination, and to nurture children's aspirations and dreams for the future.

Improving African American Participation Rates in Health Intervention Research (Minnesota)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: To improve participation of African Americans in health promotion and intervention research.

Independent Transportation Network (Portland, ME)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The mission of this program is to provide a community-based, and community supported, economically viable and consumer-oriented, quality transportation service for seniors.

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.