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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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Chatham County Jail Health Information Exchange

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders

Goal: To have an EMR system that allows medical professionals to correctly diagnose and address the medical needs of incarcerated patients in the emergency room or in the prison system.

Impact: The program has allowed for greater accessibility and sharing of medical data.

Flex Your Power Case Study: City and County of San Francisco (San Francisco)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Urban

Goal: The goal of these projects was to find ways to maximize energy conservation and efficiency through measures with a quick payback period.

Flex Your Power Case Study: Kings County (Kings County, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability

Goal: The energy goals of the committee were to save money, reduce energy usage and to "stay on" during blackouts to avoid sending employees home.

Flex Your Power Case Study: Orange County Water District (Orange County, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability

Goal: OCWD's goals in 2001 were to reduce energy load, save money and preserve/extend equipment life. Its projects targeted power use in buildings' electrical/lighting systems; chemical and energy management issues concerning the plant treatment process and HVAC systems; and energy use by employees and ultimately customers.

Franklin County Infant Safe Sleep and SIDS Risk Reduction Initiative (Franklin County)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health

Goal: The initiative’s goal is to reduce infant sleep-related deaths by promoting safe sleep environments and SIDS risk reduction techniques among healthcare professionals, childcare providers, and all individuals responsible for caring for infants.

Jefferson County Juvenile Gun Court (Jefferson County, AL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children

Goal: The program’s goals are to provide early intervention and greater accountability for juveniles charged with weapons offenses, help juveniles recognize and use nonviolent means to promote their safety and preserve their self-esteem, and effectively deliver the message that gun violence hurts victims, families, and communities.

L.A. County's Emergency Survival Program (Los Angeles)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Governance, Urban

Goal: The goal is to help prepare communities for earthquakes, fires, floods, terrorism, and other natural and man-made disasters.

Lancaster County School-Community Tobacco Prevention Program (Lincoln-Lancaster County, NE)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce public and worker exposure to secondhand smoke and to prevent youth initiation of tobacco.

Marin County Safe Routes to Schools (Marin)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Safe Routes to School program is to improve safety and encourage more children to safely walk and bicycle to school. In addition, the programs work toward reducing traffic congestion and improving health and the environment.

NYC FITNESSGRAM (New York)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal of the program is to assist students in establishing physical activity as part of their daily lives.

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.