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 / Children's Health, Children
Goal: The goal of the Al's Pals program is to teach children how to practice positive ways to express feelings, relate to others, communicate, brainstorm ideas, solve problems, and differentiate between safe and unsafe substances and situations.
Impact: Studies have shown that the program resulted in higher degrees of positive change in the intervention groups, increases in prosocial behaviors and positive coping behaviors, and decreases in antisocial and negative coping behaviors.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The goal of Assessment and Referral is to help individuals struggling with a substance use disorder evaluate their needs and strengths and begin to make healthy choices that improve the overall quality of their lives.
Impact: First Call provided over 1,700 assessments in 2013, and more than half of clients showed improvements in their Addiction Severity Index (ASI) scores or a decrease in substance use.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens
Goal: The goal of Assisting in Rehabilitating Kids (ARK) is to increase abstinence and safer sex behaviors among substance-dependent adolescents.
Impact: The ARK program successfully increased sexual abstinence among those who received all components: health information, behavior skills training, and risk-sensitization manipulation, with the inclusion of the latter being more resistant to decay over time.
Association of Rideshare-Based Transportation Services and Missed Primary Care Appointments: A Clinical Trial (Philadelphia)
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Urban
Goal: The goal of the clinical trial was to evaluate the association between rideshare-based medical transportation and missed primary care appointments among Medicaid patients.
Impact: Although the uptake of ridesharing was low and did not decrease missed primary care appointments for this particular clinical trial, future studies trying to reduce missed appointments can explore alternative delivery models or target populations with stronger transportation needs.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Respiratory Diseases, Children, Families, Urban
Goal: The goal of the program was to provide a multi-layered asthma management program for parents, children, and staff of early childhood centers.
Impact: The ABC program demonstrates that a multi-layered approach can improve asthma outcomes among preschoolers with a combination of parent and provider education having the greatest impact.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Adults, Urban
Goal: The mission of At The Crossroads is to reach out to homeless youth and young adults at their point of need, and provide them with services and programs that will empower them and improve their lives.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation
Goal: The AZTech Executive Committee set the following objectives:
1. Integrate the existing Intelligent Transportation Infrastructure (ITI) into a regional system.
2. Establish a regional integrated traveler information system for the multi-modal travelers.
3. Demonstrate the benefits of integrated community-based transportation systems to achieve system efficiencies.
4. Provide a showcase of how technology can improve the overall quality of life, conserve energy and reduce pollution.
5. Set a worldwide standard of excellence for deployment of ITS in a major economy.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Children, Families
Goal: The goal of Baby, Be Safe is to increase the use of child injury prevention measures.
Impact: Participants who received tailored educational materials reported greater adoption of home and car safety behaviors than those receiving generic information. This study offers promising findings to help prevent injuries to young children.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Families, Urban
Goal: The goal of the project was to increase breastfeeding initiation rates through the implementation of Baby-Friendly policies.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Women, Men, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The goal of the Baltimore Needle Exchange Program is to reduce HIV, hepatitis, and other infections by reducing the use of unclean needles and to help individuals overcome substance abuse by connecting them to harm reduction services and drug treatment programs. The experimental case manager intervention program at the Baltimore NEP looked to increase the percentage of intravenous drug users who enrolled in city sponsored substance abuse programs following referral at the Baltimore NEP sites.
Impact: The intervention program through Baltimore NEP was effective in increasing entry of intravenous drug users into drug drug treatment programs and highlights the need for more accessible treatment programs and harm-reduction services, such as mobile treatment facilities.