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 Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Women's Health, Children, Teens, Women
The goal of Girls' Circles is to enhance girls' abilities so they are able to take full advantage of their talents, academic interests, career pursuits, and potential for healthy relationships.
The program has shown statistically significant improvements for girls in Girls Circle programs with the following outcomes: increases in self-efficacy, attachment to school, positive body image, and social support, and decreases in self-harming behavior and alcohol use rates.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Families
The primary goal of GGC is to reduce youth substance abuse and problem behaviors by increasing family involvement that is rewarding and enhances parent-child bonds.
Significant positive effects on increasing family involvement and interaction and reducing youth substance abuse were observed. A cost-benefit analysis estimates a $5.85 benefit for every dollar invested in the program.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Teens
The HeadOn program is designed to promote well-known protective factors based on both the social-influence model of drug use and a generalized skills-training model.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Women
The intervention aimed to reduce sexual risk behaviors, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and pregnancy, and enhance mediators of HIV-preventive behaviors.
HIV/STD Risk Reduction Interventions for African American and Latino Adolescent Girls (Philadelphia)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
The goal of this intervention was to reduce self-reported unprotected sexual intercourse among African American and Latino adolescent girls.
Skill-based HIV/STD interventions can improve condom-use and reduce sexual risk behaviors, along with STD rates, among African American and Latino teen girls in clinical settings.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The goal of the HORIZONS program is to reduce sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), particularly HIV, by increasing condom use and partner communication about safer sex.
The HORIZONS program empowered African American female adolescents to pursue safer sex and reduced the number of STDs among those in the program.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
The goal of this intervention was to increase HIV preventative behavior among inner-city minority adolescents.
Students in the classroom-based intervention group had more sustained changes in HIV prevention behavior over time compared to those in the peer-based intervention groups.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens
The goal of It's Your Game: Keep It Real is to reduce teen pregnancy, prevent STI transmission, and delay teen sexual activity in middle school students.
Participants in the It’s Your Game: Keep It Real intervention program were less likely to initiate sex by the ninth grade when compared to the control group.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Teens, Urban
The objective of this program is to increase life skills such as risk assessment, decision-making and drug resistance, while enhancing anti-drug norms and attitudes.
Evaluation findings suggest that Keepin' it R.E.A.L. succeeded in decreasing substance use, in reducing negative attitudes/behaviors, and in improving positive attitudes/behaviors.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Urban
The goals of this intervention were to delay initiation of sexual intercourse for youth who are not sexually active, encourage the use of condoms among sexually active youth, and enhance communication about sex between youths and their mothers.
Keepin' It R.E.A.L. teen participants increased their condom-use during sexual activity while maternal participants reported feeling more comfortable when discussing sexual issues with their teens.