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 / Physical Activity, Children, Families, Urban
Goal: The program's goal is to help overweight children aged 5-12 years and their families adopt healthier eating habits and increase physical activity.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Women, Families, Rural
Goal: The overall goal of Healthy Futures is to improve community health by ensuring access to health care and community resources for pregnant women and young children in the region.
Impact: In 2012, over 3,500 contacts, 970 home visits, and 30,000 educational mailings were delivered. Of those who initiated breastfeeding at birth, 67% of enrolled infants are still breastfeeding at eight weeks post-partum. Eighty-three percent of enrolled two-year-old children are fully immunized.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families, Urban
Goal: The program aims to reduce childhood obesity by using a three-stage approach to identifying root causes of the issue, developing and implementing behavioral strategies for weight management, and involving both the children and their families in adopting a healthy lifestyle.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Children, Rural
Goal: The goal of Heaven's Loft is to encourage low-income expectant mothers to receive prenatal care, well-baby care, immunizations, health screenings, and educational classes on childbirth, breastfeeding, and infant/child care and parenting.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The goal of Project HEED is to lessen the incidence of diabetes in ethnic minority communities through peer-led educational interventions focusing on weight loss.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The goal of Hepatitis Outreach Network (HONE) is to prevent viral hepatitis among high risk adult, minority groups in New York City, as well as to provide screening and access to care.
Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: To increase physical activity among residents of the in the High Point Seattle public housing area through improvement in the built environment.
Filed under Good Idea, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The mission of HAP is to assist middle school students in underserved areas with improving their grades, school attendance, test scores, and access to learning opportunities, leading to admission into top high schools in the Washington, DC area.
Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes
Goal: Horizon House believes homeless guests possess strengths that are key to ending their homelessness, and states its mission is "to be a focal point for services and assistance to empower individuals and families to no longer be homeless."
Filed under Good Idea, Education / Literacy
Goal: The Houston READ Commission's mission is to enrich the lives of adult Houstonians and their families by helping them achieve their full potential through literacy, and to contribute to a workforce that will ensure a strong economy and a promising future for the greater Houston area.