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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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Vial of Life (Flagler County, FL)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide emergency responders with crucial medical information about seniors so that they will be better able to assist in the event of an emergency.

Walk in to Work Out (Glasgow, Scotland)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of Walk in to Work Out is to increase daily physical activity.

Wisconsin Collaborative Diabetes Quality Improvement Project (Wisconsin)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve diabetes care in Wisconsin.

Women's Lifestyle Heart Trial (Eugene, OR)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Women

Goal: The goal of the Women's Lifestyle Heart Trial is to reduce cardiovascular risk factors among postmenopausal women with coronary heart disease through lifestyle changes.

Workplace Solutions (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Cancer, Adults

Goal: The American Cancer Society's Workplace Solutions assists employers in implementing evidence-based health interventions that reduce risk factors for cancer by promoting healthy lifestyle choices.

World/BRIDGE Initiative (San Francisco)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Investment & Personal Finance, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to encourage capital investment in low-income areas.

Combined Heat and Power Partnership (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability

Goal: The CHP Partnership is a voluntary program that seeks to reduce the environmental impact of power generation by promoting the use of CHP.The Partnership works closely with energy users, the CHP industry, state and local governments, and other stakeholders to support the development of new projects and promote their energy, environmental, and economic benefits.

Comparative Cost Analysis of Housing and Case Management Program for Chronically Ill Homeless Adults Compared to Usual Care (Chicago, Illinois)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Urban

Goal: To assess the costs of a housing and case management program in a novel sample: homeless adults with chronic medical illnesses.

Impact: Compared to usual care, the intervention group generated an average annual cost savings of (−)$6,307 per person (95 percent CI: −16,616, 4,002; p = .23). Subgroup analyses of chronically homeless and those with HIV showed higher per person, annual cost savings of (−)$9,809 and (−)$6,622.

Effect of a housing and case management program on emergency department visits and hospitalizations among chronically ill homeless adults: a randomized trial (Chicago, Illinois)

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

Goal: To assess the effectiveness of a case management and housing program in reducing the use of urgent medical services among homeless adults with chronic medical illnesses.

Impact: For every 100 homeless adults offered the intervention, the expected benefits over the next year would be 49 fewer hospitalizations, 270 fewer hospital days, and 116 fewer ED visits.

Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) and Assertive Continuing Care (ACC) (Illinois)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens

Goal: The goal of the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach is to help adolescents recover from alcohol and drug addiction.

Impact: Results from studies on this treatment program demonstrate that there can be superior engagement, retention, and short-term substance use outcomes for those in the A-CRA and ACC approaches compared to UCC. The ACC protocol can also result in significantly more patients linking to continuing care.

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.