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 Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens, Urban
Goal: The program is designed to teach students the skills and knowledge required to complete Algebra I by the end of the eighth grade.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Adults, Older Adults
Goal: The goal of the Stroke Family Support Organizer program is to provide stroke patients and caregivers with information about supportive services.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults
Goal: The goal of the program is to promote health and prevent injury among seniors through a series of community-based strength training classes.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Teens
Goal: The mission of Students Against Violence Everywhere is to decrease violence in schools and communities by promoting meaningful student involvement, education and service opportunities.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Adults
Goal: The goal of this intervention is to provide family caregivers of stroke survivors with problem-solving skills and support to manage problems and cope with the stresses of care giving.
Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Air
Goal: The goal of a wood stove changeout campaign is to reduce the usage of inefficient wood stoves in order to improve air quality.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce alcohol misuse among adolescents.
Impact: Middle school students who receive the curriculum have increased knowledge about alcohol misuse when compared to a control group. Students who received programming in the 10th grade had significantly increased alcohol misuse prevention knowledge, decreased alcohol misuse, and increased refusal skills. During their first year of driving, students who received the curriculum were involved in fewer serious traffic or drug offenses than students in the control group.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Teens, Urban
Goal: ASSIST aims to develop a diverse group consisting of young people that will then influence their peers to defy the idea of smoking thus reducing the number of adolescent smokers and reducing its health effects.
Impact: A peer-led intervention reduced smoking among adolescents at a modest cost: the ASSIST program cost of £32 ($42 USD) (95% CI = £29.70–£33.80) per student. The incremental cost per student not smoking at 2 years was £1,500 ($1984 USD) (95% CI = £669–£9,947).
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Urban
Goal: To improve drinking water consumption among adolescents.
Impact: This study shows that provision of filtered, chilled drinking water in school cafeterias coupled with promotion and education is associated with increased consumption of drinking water at school.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children
Goal: The Be a Star program was developed to help preadolescents gain the knowledge and skills necessary to resist drugs.
Impact: During the third year of the evaluation, very strong differences emerged between intervention and control groups. The treatment groups scored significantly higher on the scales rating family bonding, pro-social behavior, self-concept, self-control, decision-making, emotional awareness, assertiveness, cooperation, attitudes toward drugs and alcohol, self-efficacy, attitudes toward African-American culture, and school bonding.