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 / Children's Health, Children, Urban
Goal: The primary goal of the ‘Switch-Play’ promising practice was to develop and test three approaches towards the achievement of healthy weight maintenance among 10-year-old children: (1) through reducing the time spent in sedentary behaviors (e.g. TV viewing, playing electronic games and recreational computer use); (2) through increasing skills and enjoyment of physical activity; or (3) through a combination of these two strategies.
Impact: Children participating in the behavioral modification and motor skills development components of Switch-Play had improved BMI.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults
Goal: The goal of the program is to provide seniors a form of movement that will enhance their confidence and balance in daily activities.
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Teens, Urban
Goal: Program goals include educating and training young people from some of the most life-threatening neighborhoods of Oakland to enable them to participate in making their lives, their neighborhoods, and their communities safer and healthier, and educating policy makers, community members, and the media on the impact of violence on youth and violence prevention strategies.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Adults
Goal: The goal of this intervention is to provide family caregivers of stroke survivors with problem-solving skills and support to manage problems and cope with the stresses of care giving.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Teens, Adults, Women, Urban
Goal: Text4Health aims to improve immunization rates in urban, underserved, low-income populations via text messaging.
Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants
Goal: The goal of AgStar is to reduce methane emissions at confined animal feedlot operations by promoting the use of biogas recovery systems.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders
Goal: The goal of this program is to provide a resource and referral service that could meet the needs of lower-income employees who might not be well served under a typical employee assistance program.
The Character Effect: A Universal Social-Emotional Learning Program for Elementary School Students (Greater Cincinnati Area (SW OH, Northern KY))
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education, Children, Urban
Goal: The goal of The Character Effect is to foster the development of students’ social-emotional skills, improving their behavior and readiness to learn in the classroom.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The program aimed to increase the rate of cervical cancer screening in Chinese women living in North America in response to research findings of significantly lower cervical cancer screening rates in Chinese women.
Impact: This intervention program found that women who received an intervention had cervical cancer screenings at a higher rate than those who did not receive any intervention. This shows that culturally and linguistically appropriate interventions might help improve Pap testing rates among Chinese women.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children
Goal: The goal of the Crest Cavity-Free Zone Program is to improve the oral health of underprivileged children.
Impact: The educational program was effective in promoting improved oral health in these children over a four-week period.