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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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Trying Alternative Cafeteria Options in Schools (TACOS) (Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of the TACOS program was to use an environmental intervention to increase the availability and consumption of lower-fat foods in a la carte areas of secondary school cafeterias.

Impact: The TACOS program successfully increased both the availability and sale of lower-fat foods in a la carte areas of secondary school cafeterias.

Tuberculosis Control (Nassau County, NY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this program is to access individuals at high risk for developing TB disease and to provide therapy for LTBI in order to eliminate TB.

Type 2 Diabetes Prevention, Screening, and Intervention Program (Los Angeles)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Urban

Goal: The program's goal is to provide screening, education, and support services for patients at high risk for the development of type 2 diabetes and for those already diagnosed with the disease.

Vaccinate Before You Graduate (Rhode Island)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Teens

Goal: The goal of Vaccinate Before You Graduate is to ensure that all high school students have a chance to be fully immunized before they graduate.

Vaccines for Children Program (United States)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Children, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: Vaccines for Children was designed to ensure that eligible children do not contract vaccine-preventable diseases because of inability to pay for vaccine.

Impact: Racial and ethnic disparities in vaccination coverage between non-Hispanic white children and children of other groups have declined for vaccines that have been recommended since 1995. By providing increased access, VFC has increased protection for all children from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Walking School Bus (Houston, TX)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Urban

Goal: The goal of the "walking school bus" is to increase children's rates of active commuting to school and physical activity.

Zoning for a Healthy Baltimore

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of Zoning for a Healthy Baltimore is to influence the final version of Baltimore’s new zoning code by informing stakeholders and decision-makers about the new zoning code’s potential to create healthy communities and decrease health disparities, with an emphasis on preventing obesity and crime.

Impact: Zoning for a Healthy Baltimore is an HIA of the Baltimore zoning code rewrite in order to maximize the potential to create healthier communities. Since publication, Baltimore has revised its zoning code to incorporate dispersal standards and other strategies related to placement of alcohol outlets.

300-Mile Club (Louisville, KY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle

Goal: The goal of this program is to encourage lifestyle changes that promote healthier living by promoting walking for exercise and educating participants about proper nutrition.

5 Gallons of Disaster Preparedness (Harvey County, Kansas)

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.

A Matter of Degree (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens

Goal: The goal of the A Matter of Degree program is to reduce student drinking and driving after drinking.

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.