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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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(2012 results)

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National Night Out (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of National Night Out is to strengthen community and law enforcement relationships and educate communities about crime and drug prevention.

National Produce Program (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Poverty

Goal: To increase the amount of fresh produce and nutritious foods that are distributed to local food banks across the United States through the Feeding America network.

Native American Tribes Adopt Tobacco Protections (Montana)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: To create successful smoke-free strategies that are rooted in cultural tradition.

Impact: By recognizing the cultural traditions of sacred tobacco use, an inter-tribal coalition was successful in implementing culturally appropriate tobacco protections for tribal members.

Natural Gas STAR (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Air

Goal: Reduce methane emissions from natural gas operations by identifying and promoting the implementation of mitigation technologies and management practices.

Neighborhood Involvement Program (Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. )

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

Goal: The mission of the Neighborhood Involvement Program is to provide cost-effective and professional services to underserved populations.

Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: NFTE's mission is to motivate young people from low-income communities to stay in school, learn about entrepreneurship, and plan for successful futures.

New Communities Program (Chicago, IL)

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

Goal: The goal of the New Communities Program is to strengthen communities from within through planning, organizing, and human development.

New Directions for Youth (Los Angeles, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Public Safety, Teens, Families, Urban

Goal: The mission of New Directions for Youth is to provide comprehensive programs that help at-risk youth become productive, self-sufficient and healthy young adults, and create supportive family environments.

New York Refugee and Immigrant Job Centers (New York, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide assistance to clients whose primary language is not English.

New York's Banking Development Districts (New York)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Investment & Personal Finance

Goal: The goal of the program is to increase access to financial services for low-income families as well as stimulate economic development in distressed neighborhoods.

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.