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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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Waterloo Smoking By-law and Cigarette Labeling (Canada)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Governance, Adults

Goal: The goal of this policy is to protect residents from second-hand smoke, encourage smoking cessation and raise public awareness about tobacco issues.

We Can! (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens, Families

Goal: The goal of We Can! is to bring families and communities together to promote healthy weight in children ages 8 through 13 through improved food choices, increased physical activity, and reduced screen time.

Weed and Seed (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use

Goal: The goals of Weed and Seed are to control violent crime, drug trafficking, and drug-related crime and provide a safe environment where residents can live, work, and raise their families.

West Virginia's Coordinated School Health Program (West Virginia)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve the health and fitness of students in West Virginia.

WHACK the Flu (Berkeley, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Children

Goal: The goal of the WHACK the Flu project was to provide strategies for children to employ to reduce the transmission of communicable diseases to their families and other contacts.

Who Do You Tell? (Calgary, Canada)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to help students learn to identify and report sexual abuse.

Why Murder? (Baltimore, MD)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: Why Murder? works to reform and revitalize communities throughout Baltimore that are torn apart by homicides and the frequent administration of "street justice."

Window Guard Law/ Window Falls Prevention Program (New York City)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Governance, Children, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal is to reduce the frequency of accidental falls from apartment buildings.

Wisconsin Collaborative Diabetes Quality Improvement Project (Wisconsin)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve diabetes care in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin's Coordinated School Health Program (Wisconsin)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce the prevalence of health risk behaviors among young people by creating healthy school environments that promote health and wellness.

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.