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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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Community Van

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Rural

Goal: The San Juan Regional Medical Center community van aims to meet the transportation needs among citizens of the Four Corners region for reliable access to quality healthcare.

Comprehensive Diabetes Lower Extremity Amputation Prevention Program (Louisiana)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The goal of the Comprehensive Diabetes – Lower Extremities Amputation Prevention initiative is to improve foot care and reduce lower extremity amputations among people with diabetes.

Diabetes Management for the Homeless: Sojourner Clinic (Kansas City, MO)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Older Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Sojourner Health Clinic is to pick up where the current medical system leaves off by providing free acute and ongoing healthcare to patients who do not have access--or are reluctant to access—traditional routes to a doctor or medicine.

Impact: During 2012, the Sojourner Health Clinic managed to increase the number of diabetic patients with A1C levels below 9 percent from 15% to 83%, reducing the average blood glucose level of patients and giving them a better sense of control over their diabetes.

Dump Your Plump (Johnson)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Adults, Rural

Goal: The goal of Dump Your Plump is to foster healthy eating and exercise habits through team-based competition.

Educating and Delivering Financial Services to Low-Income, Underserved Residents and Businesses (Cuyahoga County, OH)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Investment & Personal Finance, Families

Goal: The goal is to offer members of poor and underserved communities ownership in an established financial cooperative. By purchasing shares in the Faith Community United Credit Union (FCUCU), individuals gain access to services and learn the difference between using what belongs to someone else and owning their own institution.

EMERGE (Minneapolis, MN)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Employment, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: Invest in people through social enterprise.

ENERGY STAR (USA)

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce energy usage in order to save on energy costs, increase energy reliability, prevent greenhouse gas emissions, and improve national energy security. It is also an essential strategy for reducing natural gas prices and ensuring a balanced energy future in a growing economy.

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: 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.

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.
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