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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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Developing a Community Adult Literacy Program (Kellogg, ID)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Literacy, Teens, Families, Rural

Goal: Since late 1996 the Silver Valley Learning Center has been helping students with low reading levels improve literacy and achieve personal educational goals. By offering these services, the Silver Valley Learning Center hopes to enhance self-esteem and motivation for the adults in its community, which can hedge against depression and related problems such as alcohol abuse and domestic violence.

Diabetes Management for the Homeless: Sojourner Clinic (Kansas City, MO)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Older Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Sojourner Health Clinic is to pick up where the current medical system leaves off by providing free acute and ongoing healthcare to patients who do not have access--or are reluctant to access—traditional routes to a doctor or medicine.

Impact: During 2012, the Sojourner Health Clinic managed to increase the number of diabetic patients with A1C levels below 9 percent from 15% to 83%, reducing the average blood glucose level of patients and giving them a better sense of control over their diabetes.

Diabetes Patient Education in a Mexican-American Community (Starr County, TX)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this promising practice was to provide Mexican-Americans with the knowledge, skills, and support to improve general health measures and manage their diabetes.

Direct Instruction

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to maximize learning for all students.

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.

Drinking Water Nitrification Surveillance Program (Lee County, FL)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health

Goal: The goal of this program is to detect nitrification in drinking water in order to protect infants under six months old from methemoglobinemia and prevent other consequential bacteriological problems.

Driving Decisions Workbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Public Safety, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of the Driving Decisions Workbook is to increase self-awareness of driving skills in older adults.

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.

DuPage Narcan Program (DuPage County, IL)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Urban

Goal: The goal of the program is to provide police departments, schools and others with Naloxone and proper training to save lives from heroin overdose and to provide individuals with a chance to recover.

Impact: In the first six months of the second year, 26 saves were recorded.

Early Intervention in Reading

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve reading skills for elementary school students.

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.