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, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children
Goal: The goal of full-day kindergarten programs is to prepare children academically, socially, and emotionally for effective participation in the educational system.
Impact: Children who enroll in full-day kindergarten programs see improved scores on standardized tests and assigned grades than those enrolled in half-day kindergarten programs. Those enrolled in full-day programs also see increased social-emotional health.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Children, Adults
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce public and worker exposure to secondhand smoke and to prevent youth initiation of tobacco.
Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment
Goal: The goal of this program is to move employable TANF recipients into the workforce and to provide job retention support.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Children, Teens, Adults, Rural
Goal: The overall goal is to reduce the prevalence of diabetes and improve the care of people with diabetes.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Other Conditions
Goal: The goal of this study is to determine how many Community Health Workers (CHW) would be needed to reduce emergency department (ED) visits and associated hospitalizations among their assigned patients to be cost-neutral from a payer's perspective.
Impact: This study adds significant knowledge to the existing literature on CHW programs, and particularly provides critical information to payers that can be used for making decisions on appropriate payment models
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Rural
Goal: The goal of this project is to build community support for persons with Type 2 diabetes living in frontier Eastern Montana.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The goal of the Healthy Retail Project is to increase access to healthier foods and beverages; decrease the availability of unhealthy products; increase compliance with alcohol, tobacco, and food safety laws; and increase customer loyalty and store profits.
Impact: Over 60% of stores assessed in 2014 met Healthy Retail Project Standards and all participating stores increased their food environment score over baseline.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Adults
Goal: The goal of the Tobacco Use Prevention program is to control tobacco use, reduce secondhand smoke exposure, and encourage smoking cessation.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Cancer, Women
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce barriers to exercise and increase the likelihood that people will engage in physical activity.
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Children, Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The program's primary goal is to prepare the Harvey County community for a disaster. It also seeks to increase outreach to minority communities and recruit volunteers for the MRC.