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

Vaccination Programs: Provider Reminders

CDC

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases

Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends provider reminders—when used alone or when combined with additional interventions—to increase vaccination rates among people of all ages from different populations or settings.

Vestey Center (Superior, NE)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Community & Business Resources, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of the Vestey Center is to provide vital services and resources to the elderly of Superior, Nebraska and serve as a community center for the larger community.

Wellness Initiative for Senior Education (WISE) (New Jersey)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health, Older Adults

Goal: The WISE Program is a wellness and prevention program targeting older adults, which is designed to help them celebrate healthy aging, make healthy lifestyle choices and avoid substance abuse.

A Matter of Balance (Clay and Platte Counties, MO)

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

Goal: The goals of the program are to help participants learn how to view falls and the fear of falling as controllable, set realistic goals for increasing activity, change their environment to reduce fall risk factors, and exercise to increase strength and balance.

Impact: After completing the program, 97% of participants are more comfortable in talking about falls, 95% have made environmental changes, and 99.5% plan to continue exercising.

Accelerated Benefits (AB) Demonstration (USA)

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

Goal: The program's goal was to eliminate the waiting period for access to health care benefits for newly entitled SSDI beneficiaries, and see if this investment has long-term benefits.

Impact: The AB Demonstration project successfully increased the use of health care services and reduced the reported unmet health care needs of participants in the program.

Activity Bursts in the Classroom (ABC) Fitness Program (Independence, MO)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children

Goal: The project aims to promote a healthy lifestyle and reverse the trend of obesity among students and their families.

Impact: The ABC Fitness Program demonstrates the feasibility of bursts of structured physical activity for elementary school students with the beneficial effects on fitness and other health measures.

Aiming High (Sonoma, CA)

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

Goal: The goal of Aiming High is to increase the percentage of English learners scoring at or above proficient on California Standardized tests in language arts and math by three percentage points annually.

Asthma: School-Based Self-Management Interventions for Children and Adolescents with Asthma

New CDC

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Respiratory Diseases

Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends school-based asthma self-management interventions to reduce hospitalizations and emergency room visits among children and adolescents with asthma. Evidence shows interventions are effective when delivered by trained school staff, nurses, and health educators in elementary, middle, and high schools serving diverse populations.
When implemented in schools in low-income or minority communities, interventions are likely to promote health equity.

Becoming a Responsible Teen (BART) (Jackson, Mississippi)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Family Planning, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goals of this intervention include: increasing information and skills to make sound choices, increasing abstinence, and eliminating or reducing sex risk behaviors.

Impact: Among teens who participated, there was a decrease in sexual activity compared to those who did not participate in the program. Also among participants, there was an increase in sexual intercourse occasions that were condom-protected.

Bienestar: A School-Based Diabetes and Obesity Prevention Program (Texas)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Diabetes, Children, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The objectives of Bienestar are to decrease dietary saturated fat intake, increase dietary fiber intake, and increase physical activity among low-income Mexican-American elementary and middle school children.

Impact: The Bienestar Health Program statistically significantly increases fitness scores and dietary fiber intakes levels among low-income, Mexican-American fourth-graders. A second randomized control trial conducted from 6th to 8th grade showed reductions in various indexes of adiposity.

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.