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

California Votes Initiative (California)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Civic Engagement, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The Initiative's goal was to increase voter participation rates among infrequent voters, particularly in low-income and ethnic communities.

Cany Valley Agape Network Family for Rural Healthy Food Access

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Nutrition & Healthy Eating, Rural

Goal: CVAN is the Kansas conduit for tons of healthy produce from the Catholic Charities Mary Martha Organization--the steward of excess highly perishable high quality foods from a huge Walmart Distribution Center in Oklahoma. As food supplies allow, CVAN distributes to the 100 square mile school district and to share with a networked family of pantries and volunteer organizations in five Kansas counties and South Coffeyville, OK. As needed, CVAN has recruited distribution volunteers in covering communities within this economically depressed region. The network family was built upon the CVAN’s supply of fresh produce, but is now blessing this area with distribution of CARES foods during the COVID crisis. Its volunteers are food warriors--winning in the fight against rural hunger.

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.

CareMore: Nonemergency Medical Transport

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Older Adults

Goal: To provide transportation and improve patient satisfaction for nonemergency medical services.

Impact: CareMore's NEMT was so successful in the first 3 months, the programs were expanded in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Virginia.

CareSouth Carolina and the Northeastern Rural Health Network (South Carolina)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Adults, Rural

Goal: The goal of CareSouth Carolina and Northeastern Rural Health Network is to improve the behavioral health wellness of patients and residents.

Impact: The partnership between CareSouth Carolina and Northeastern Rural Health Network has reduced the stigma regarding mental health issues, improved care coordination, and increased the likelihood that patients receive the physical and mental health support they need in order to be healthy.

Caring Bear Picnic (Arenac County, MI)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families, Rural

Goal: The mission of the Caring Bear Picnic is to educate children and parents on how to live healthy lifestyles through hands-on activities.

Impact: For over 30 years, the Caring Bear Picnic has educated children and parents on how to live healthy lifestyles through hands-on activities.

Caring for Kids (Kansas City, MO)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of Caring for Kids is to provide youth impacted by a loved one's substance use with the tools they need to stay safe and build a healthy life, and to reduce the likelihood that impacted youth will abuse substances.

Impact: In 2013, more than 250 youth were impacted by Caring for Kids. 90% of youth participants showed a decreased likelihood of alcohol or other drug use, and 100% completed an action plan.

Caring School Community Program

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / School Environment, Children

Goal: The goal of the Caring School Community program is to build classroom and school communities in order to support learning, academic success, positive relationships and character formation.

Impact: After 3 years, CSC students, relative to their comparison school counterparts, showed a greater sense of the school as a caring community, more fondness for school, stronger academic motivation, more frequent reading of books outside of school, a higher sense of efficacy, stronger commitment to democratic values, better conflict-resolution skills, more concern for others, more frequent altruistic behavior, and less use of alcohol.

Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program (USA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Urban

Goal: The Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program's goal is to provide comprehensive youth development services and reduce teen pregnancy among economically disadvantaged teenagers.

Impact: Pregnancy prevention programs can work successfully among females when started early in adolescence and when male counterparts are also educated appropriately on condom-use and delayed sexual actively onset.

Casual Carpool (San Francisco & Alameda Co, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation, Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of Casual Carpool is to match commuters in order to reduce traffic congestion and to save money for both drivers and passengers by avoiding public transit fees and bridge tolls.

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.