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

Riverside County Greater Avenues for Independence Program (GAIN) Program (Riverside County, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment

Goal: The mission of the program is to work vigorously to free participants from the burden of welfare dependency, and achieve a better, happier lifestyle through self-sufficiency. It will serve the taxpayers of Riverside County by reducing welfare dependency, thus making tax dollars available for other expenditures and needs.

Impact: The program produced a large net savings to the government through increased tax revenues and reduced welfare and food stamps payments (as an estimate, $2.84 saved for every $1.00 invested over five years).

The Westside Prevention Project Low Rider Bike Club (San Bernardino, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to educate high-risk youth in San Bernardino about issues such as gangs, violence, and substance abuse. The program encourages participation by appealing to the low rider bike subculture, which neighborhood teens readily relate to.

Cardiovascular Risk Management by Community Pharmacists (Iowa)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Adults, Rural

Goal: The goal of the Cardiovascular Risk Management by Community Pharmacists program is to reduce cardiovascular risk factors through pharmacist provided case management.

Community Trials Intervention to Reduce High-Risk Drinking

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce high-risk drinking behaviors.

Impact: Studies demonstrate that the program resulted in decreases in substance use and behaviors related to risk factors. Participants had significant reductions in drinking quantities, variances in drinking quantities, rates of driving when having had too much to drink, and rates of driving over the legal limits relative to nonparticipants. There was also a significant decrease in the number of nighttime crashes per month and the monthly rates of driving under the influence (DUI) crashes.

Community-Based Multiple Risk Factor Intervention for Cardiovascular Risk (Baltimore, MD)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease among African American families with a history of coronary disease.

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

Goal: The goal of this intervention was to reduce self-reported unprotected sexual intercourse among African American and Latino adolescent girls.

Impact: 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.

Intervention to Reduce Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors in Infants (Finland)

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

Goal: To decrease saturated fat consumption and thus reduce coronary heart disease risk factors in young children.

Impact: STRIP's intervention of diet counseling that began at a child's infancy favorably impacted the child's diet through childhood up to ages 8 or 10, but the goal of 2:1 unsaturated-saturated fatty acid ratio in a child's diet was not met for either intervention or control group.

Northern Manhattan Start Right Coalition (New York City, NY)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Children, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the Northern Manhattan Start Right Coalition is to increase the timely vaccination coverage rate for the 4:3:1:3:3 series for children ages 19 to 35 months.

Impact: The Start Right Coalition increased timely vaccination coverage from 63.0% in 2002 to 96.8% in 2007.

Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways (RiPP)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent violence among middle school students.

Impact: Rates of violence-related violations among 6th graders were 2.2 times lower in classrooms using RiPP than in non-participating classrooms. In-school suspension rates among 6th graders were also 5.0 times higher in the non-participating classrooms.

Rideshare-Based Medical Transportation for Medicaid Patients (Philadelphia area, PA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality

Goal: To evaluate the impact of rideshare-based medical transportation on the proportion of Medicaid patients attending scheduled primary care appointments.

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.