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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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B&O Railroad Station (Oakland, MD)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Economic Climate

Goal: The goal of the restoration of the B&O Railroad Station was to preserve the historic landmark and revitalize the town of Oakland, Maryland.

BackPack Program (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Poverty, Children, Families

Goal: The mission of the BackPack program is to provide food to hungry children at times when other resources are not available, such as weekends and school vacations.

Ben Schroeder Saddletree Factory Restoration (Madison, IN)

Filed under Good Idea, Art & Recreation / Libraries & Museums, Families, Rural

Goal: The preservation and restoration of the Ben Schroeder Saddletree Factory aims to contribute to the overall economic and cultural development of the community.

Bicycle Education Enhancement Program (BEEP) (Pennsylvania)

Filed under Good Idea, Art & Recreation / Sports Recreation & Parks, Children, Teens, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal of the program is to provide middle and high school students in the greater Philadelphia are with education and tools to become life-long cyclists.

Brooklyn GreenBridge (Brooklyn, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Urban

Goal: Working with block associations, community gardens, community centers, and other groups, Brooklyn GreenBridge promotes conservation and community through gardening activities.

Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL) (Selected communities in the U.S.)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Urban

Goal: BELL exists to transform the academic achievements, self-confidence, and life trajectories of children living in under-resourced, urban communities.

Impact: Students enrolled in summer courses may read more books during the summer than students not enrolled in summer courses.

Buying Nutritional Food on a Limited Budget (Wisconsin)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Teens, Older Adults, Families

Goal: This program seeks to encourage low-income elderly, families, and youth to learn about nutrition through research-based education programs. It offers advice on how to eat healthy foods on a limited budget.

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.