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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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Reading Partners (Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children, Urban

Goal: Reading Partners mission is to help children become lifelong readers by empowering communities to provide individualized instruction with measurable results.

Refugee Health Assessment Program (Miami Dade County, FL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Urban

Goal: The mission of the RHAP is to protect the health of the general population and to improve the health status of refugees so they may achieve self-sufficiency.

Remembering When: a fall and fire prevention program for older adults (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults

Goal: Remembering When was developed to prevent deaths and injuries from fires and falls among older adults.

Resident and Community Services (Omaha, NE)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Housing & Homes

Goal: The Omaha Housing Authority's goal is to provide quality housing for those who receive assistance through rental and homeownership programs.

Respiratory Health Association (Chicago, IL)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Respiratory Diseases

Goal: Respiratory Health Association's mission is to promote healthy lungs and fight lung disease through research, advocacy and education.

Impact: Respiratory Health Association provides ongoing education, research funding, and advocacy for respiratory health. The program also partners with organizations that work with underserved populations to reduce tobacco use.

ReWired for Change (Baltimore, MD)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: ReWired for Change works to empower at risk youth and families living in under-served communities through education, media and social advocacy, and intergenerational programming.

Richland County Community Diabetes Project (Richland County, MT)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Diabetes, Rural

Goal: The goal of this project is to build community support for persons with Type 2 diabetes living in frontier Eastern Montana.

Richmond Comprehensive Homicide Initiative (Richmond, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of this strategy is to reduce homicide in Richmond, California.

Right Stuff About Renting (RSAR) (Bethlehem, PA)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Housing & Homes

Goal: The Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley is commited to improve the quality of life in the Lehigh Valley by building a community in which all people have access to economic opportunities, the ability to pursue those opportunities, and a voice in the decisions that affect their lives.

Roots of Empathy (Canada)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children

Goal: The program has five main goals: foster the development of empathy; develop emotional literacy; reduce levels of bullying, aggression and violence, and promote children's pro-social behaviors; increase knowledge of human development, learning, and infant safety; and prepare students for responsible citizenship and responsive parenting.

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.