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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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Reach Out and Read: Palm Beach (Palm Beach)

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

Goal: The mission of Reach Out and Read is to help prepare young children to succeed in school, by partnering with physicians to encourage parents and children to read aloud together.

Reading Recovery

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to help children who are having difficulty learning to read and write.

Refugee Health Assessment Program (Miami Dade County, FL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Urban

Goal: The mission of the RHAP is to protect the health of the general population and to improve the health status of refugees so they may achieve self-sufficiency.

Respiratory Health Association (Chicago, IL)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Respiratory Diseases

Goal: Respiratory Health Association's mission is to promote healthy lungs and fight lung disease through research, advocacy and education.

Impact: Respiratory Health Association provides ongoing education, research funding, and advocacy for respiratory health. The program also partners with organizations that work with underserved populations to reduce tobacco use.

Ripple Effects Whole Spectrum Intervention System (Ripple Effects) (USA and Canada)

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

Goal: The goal of Ripple Effects is to use technology to prevent social injury and promote school and life success for children and teenagers.

Salud Para Su Corazón (Health for Your Heart) (Washington D.C.)

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

Goal: The goal of Salud Para Su Corazón is to raise awareness and knowledge of heart disease risk factors and prevention among Latino populations.

School Violence Prevention Demonstration Program

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / School Environment, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce violent tendencies among youth through civic education.

Senior Corps (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Civic Engagement, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of this program is to match seniors with volunteer opportunities.

Setting up a Kids Voting Program to Increase Civic Participation (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Civic Engagement, Children

Goal: The goal of Kids Voting USA is to foster civic awareness at an early age to deal with the problems of voter apathy and nonparticipation.

SMARTteam (Students Managing Anger and Resolution Together)

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.

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.