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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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Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: NFTE's mission is to motivate young people from low-income communities to stay in school, learn about entrepreneurship, and plan for successful futures.

Nonpoint Source Pollution Partnership (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The goal of this program is to maintain and restore water quality in the face of threats and impairments caused by nonpoint source pollution.

North Carolina Antipredatory Home Lending Law (North Carolina)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes

Goal: The goal of this law is to reduce abusive lending practices.

Nurses Improving Care for Health System Elders (NICHE)

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

Goal: The goal of NICHE is to achieve systematic nursing change that will benefit hospitalized older patients. The vision of NICHE is for all patients 65 and over to be given sensitive and exemplary care. The mission of NICHE is to import principles and tools to stimulate a change in the culture of healthcare facilities to achieve patient-centered care for older adults.

Partnering with a Bakery to Provide Breakfast to Low-Income Schools (United Kingdom)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Urban

Goal: The goal of this partnership is to provide a healthy breakfast to low-income students to help them perform better in school.

Positive Self-Management Program for HIV (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Adults, Women, Men

Goal: Positive Self-Management Program for HIV is a group workshop that helps individuals with HIV manage their disease and continue to live fulfilling lives.

Project CRAFT

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Educational Attainment, Teens

Goal: Project CRAFT is designed to improve educational levels, teach vocational skills and reduce recidivism among adjudicated youth, while addressing the home building industry's need for entry level workers.

Public Health Expertise Network of Mentors (PHENOM)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Educational Attainment

Goal: To provide a freely-available source of public health expertise in which seasoned professionals can share their wealth of professional expertise with those interested in learning about Public Health and potential career options.

Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children

Goal: The mission of the R.E.A.D. program is to improve children's literacy skills through the use of literacy mentors.

Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Adults, Rural

Goal: The goal of the Rural Energy for America Program is to increase clean energy production, efficiency savings, economic activity, and new jobs in rural areas.

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.