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.

Submit a Promising Practice

Great Allegheny Passage (Pittsburgh, PA to Washington, D.C.)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Children, Teens, Adults, Families

Goal: The goal of the Great Allegheny Passage is to provide hikers, bicyclists, cross-country skiers and people with disabilities with a trail through the region.

Mailed Psychoeducational Intervention for Colorectal Cancer Screening (England)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve colorectal cancer screening rates among older adults.

Impact: Participants in the intervention group had significantly higher colorectal cancer screening attendance, as well as having more positive attitudes about screening and placing a higher priority on screening.

SIDS Risk Reduction Training for Parents and Family Members (Washington, D.C.)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Children, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The objectives are to increase knowledge of SIDS risk reduction strategies, including sleep position and roomsharing without bedsharing.

Impact: A 15-minute educational session with small groups of parents is effective in informing parents about the importance of safe sleep position and in changing parent behavior for at least the first 6 months of the infant's life.

Parent-Child Assistance Program (Washington)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Women

Goal: The goals of the program are to 1) assist mothers in obtaining treatment, maintaining recovery, and resolving the complex problems associated with their substance abuse, 2) guarantee that the children are in a safe environment and receiving appropriate health care, 3) effectively link families with community resources, and 4) demonstrate successful strategies for working with this population and thus reduce the numbers of future drug- and alcohol-affected children.

Impact: At a 36-month follow-up women in PCAP were more likely to have received alcohol/drug treatment than the control group. Cost savings were suggested by a reduction in length of out-of-home care and prevention of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

The Incredible Years: Palm Beach County (Palm Beach County, FL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Families

Goal: The program aims to promote social, emotional, and academic competence and to prevent children from developing conduct problems.

Impact: The Incredible Years series has been shown to increase positive parenting practices and family communication while reducing children's conduct problems.

Reach Out and Read: Washington, D.C. (Washington, D.C.)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Literacy, Children, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: Reach Out and Read prepares America's youngest children to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to encourage families
to read together.

Children's National Parish Nursing Program (Washington, D.C.)

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

Goal: The goal is to increase awareness in faith-based communities regarding preventative care for children and services available at Children's National Medical Center for patients and families.

Impact: The Parish Nursing Program will train eight nurses to become Faith Community Nurses in Summer 2013.

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.

Steps to a Healthier Washington (Washington)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Adults

Goal: The mission of the Steps to a Healthier Washington program is to integrate existing chronic disease programs to achieve policy and systems changes.

The Chinese Women's Health Project (Seattle, Washington)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The program aimed to increase the rate of cervical cancer screening in Chinese women living in North America in response to research findings of significantly lower cervical cancer screening rates in Chinese women.

Impact: This intervention program found that women who received an intervention had cervical cancer screenings at a higher rate than those who did not receive any intervention. This shows that culturally and linguistically appropriate interventions might help improve Pap testing rates among Chinese women.

An Effective Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

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.
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:

The program description includes: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program funding source, program implementation steps and outcomes.
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:

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.
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.
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.