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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 Partnership for Protecting Children (Jacksonville, FL)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Families

Goal: The goal of this program is to change the child protection field by demonstrating a new approach to safeguarding children and supporting families. Based on the premise that many people, agencies, and organizations in a community can contribute to children's safety, the initiative addresses child abuse and neglect by raising neighborhood awareness of child safety issues, empowering neighborhood residents to become more involved with families at risk of abusing or neglecting their children, strengthening locally based organizations and helping them form networks concerned with child safety, and fostering policy, practice, and organizational changes within public sector child protective services agencies. This approach is known as community child protection.

DLM Early Childhood Express/Imagine It! (Palm Beach)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Urban

Goal: To improve the school readiness of children in Palm Beach County.

Linking Inmates with Needed Care (LINC) (Florida)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the LINC program is to provide health education and care to prison inmates while they are incarcerated and following their release.

Prescription for Health Diabetes Project (Homestead and Florida City, FL)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The goal of the Prescription for Health Diabetes Project was to improve health outcomes for people with type 2 diabetes through culturally-appropriate interventions.

Public Health Communications Response to the Influenza Vaccine Shortage (Pinellas County, FL)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Governance, Older Adults, Families

Goal: The goal was to provide flu vaccine to those most at risk while minimizing public alarm and gaining acceptance by employees that the traditionally free flu vaccine would not be available.

The Magnolia Project (Jacksonville, Duval County)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Family Planning, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The Magnolia Project's mission is to improve the health and well-being of women during their childbearing years by empowering communities to address medical, behavioral, cultural and social service needs.

CareNet (Florida)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Adults, Families

Goal: The goal of CareNet is to provide underinsured or uninsured workers with discounted health care services.

Kansas City Gun Experiment (Kansas City, MO)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of this program was to reduce gun crime in Kansas City.

The Minnesota Youth Tobacco Prevention Initiative (Minnesota)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens

Goal: The goal of the Initiative was to reduce youth tobacco use by 30% by 2005.

A Disinfection and Hand Hygiene Program for Schools (USA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Adults, Families

Goal: To reduce gastrointestinal and respiratory illness-related absenteeism in elementary school students by using surface disinfectants.

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.