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 Effective Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Women, Urban
Goal: The mission of MOMS Orange County is to help mothers and their families have healthy babies by providing health coordination, education, and access to community services. MOMS Orange County’s vision is that all babies born in Orange County are healthy at birth.
Impact: Measures such as the percent of babies born at a low birth weight, percent of babies born premature, and the percent of babies admitted to the NICU were all markedly better for program participants when compared to many comparison benchmarks.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children
Goal: To prevent or delay the onset of underage alcohol and tobacco use by encouraging healthy beliefs and attitudes about abstaining from substance use and by enhancing critical thinking skills to transform students into active media consumers.
Impact: Students who participated in the Media Detective program displayed a greater understanding of media deconstruction skills and persuasive intent. They also had greater self-efficacy to refuse substances compared to students who did not participate in the program.
Medicaid Savings Resulted When Community Health Workers Matched Those With Needs To Home And Community Care (Arkansas)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Government Assistance, Older Adults
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce costs by using specially trained community health workers to help connect people with unmet long-term needs and/or those at risk of entering nursing homes to Medicaid home and community-based services.
Impact: Similar interventions may help other localities achieve cost-saving and equitable access to publicly funded long-term care options other than institutional care.
Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Economic Climate
Goal: Memphis Fast Forward is the shared vision and unprecedented action plan to create good jobs, a better-educated workforce, a safer community, a healthier citizenry and efficient government in Memphis and Shelby County.
Impact: Major violent and property crime were reduced by 22.8% and 25.5%. The pool of high-potential teacher candidates increased from 21 to 1,800 in one year. More than 15,000 jobs were created. New capital investment of $4.2 billion was generated. Local governments saved more than $75 million.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders
Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends depression care management in primary care clinics for older adults with major depression or chronic low levels of depression (dysthymia) on the basis of sufficient evidence of effectiveness in improving short-term depression outcomes.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders
Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends depression care management at home for older adults with depression on the basis of strong evidence of effectiveness in improving short-term depression outcomes.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Teens, Adults, Urban
Goal: The goals of the Mental Health First Aid course are to: 1) learn to identify risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, 2) utilize evidence-based strategies to help someone in both crisis and non-crisis situations, and 3) become a resource in your community to guide people where to turn for help.
NAMI-DuPage's yearly goal is to complete 70 training courses per year.
Impact: Mental Health First Aid helps community members become aware of signs and symptoms of someone in a mental health crisis and become a resource to mental health and behavioral health programs in their community.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders
Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends targeted school-based cognitive behavioral therapy programs to reduce depression and anxiety symptoms among school-aged children and adolescents who are assessed to be at increased risk for these conditions.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders
Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends universal school-based cognitive behavioral therapy programs to prevent or reduce depression and anxiety symptoms among school-aged children and adolescents.
The CPSTF also recommends Targeted School-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Programs to Reduce Depression and Anxiety Symptoms for students who are assessed to be at increased risk for these conditions, and group and individual CBT to reduce psychological harm from traumatic events among children and adolescents.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Respiratory Diseases, Children
Goal: The Mobile C.A.R.E. Foundation’s mission is to provide complimentary and comprehensive asthma care and education to children and families in Chicago’s underserved communities via mobile medical units called "Asthma Vans."
Impact: The Mobile C.A.R.E. Foundation’s Asthma Vans provide children and families in Chicago’s underserved communities with complimentary and comprehensive asthma care and education resulting in reduced school absenteeism, decreased ER visits and lower hospitalization rates.