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.

Submit a Promising Practice

HomeMeds

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Public Safety, Older Adults

Goal: The mission of the program is to shape the evolving health system by developing and spreading high-value models of community-based care and self-management for diverse populations with chronic conditions.

Increasing the Use of Child Restraints in Motor Vehicles (Dallas, TX)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Public Safety, Children, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to increase child restraint use by Hispanic community members.

Linking the Interests of Families and Teachers (LIFT) (Eugene, OR)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Urban

Goal: Linking the Interests of Families and Teachers (LIFT) is a research intervention program designed to prevent the development of aggressive and antisocial behavior.

Impact: Evidence suggests that LIFT can be a useful tool for promoting effective parenting in the home and decreasing aggressive behaviors with peers at school and on the playground. LIFT participants exhibited a decrease in child physical aggression toward classmates on the playground, an increase in teachers' positive impressions of child social skills with classmates, and a decrease in parents' aversive behavior during family problem-solving discussions.

Parent Enrichment Program (Hamilton County, OH)

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

Goal: Parenting education programs are designed to teach and enhance skills and behaviors that enable parents to better understand their child, support their development, and provide a more stable and supportive family environment. Research supports the numerous benefits of such programs, finding that parenting education programs help parents to teach communication and social skills while reducing their stress and improving their sense of competence. Importantly, these positive program outcomes are true for families regardless of whether they are currently dealing with issues of maltreatment or are simply at risk for it.

The Parent Enrichment Program is for families who are at risk for having their children removed from the home or whose children have been removed from the home due to abuse or neglect. The goal of the program is to enhance existing parenting skills, connect participants to needed resources, and support their goals related to social and economic self-sufficiency. Specific program objectives are to improve skills related to positive parenting and financial stability, develop family protective factors that guard against abuse and neglect, and reduce safety threats.

References:
Charlop-Christy, M. H., & Carpenter, M. H. (2000). Modified incidental teaching sessions: A procedure for parents to increase spontaneous speech in their children with autism. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 2, 98–112.
Solomon, R., Necheles, J., Ferch, C., & Bruckman, D. (2007). Pilot study of a parent training program for young children with autism: The PLAY Project Home Consultation program. Autism, 11, 205–224.
Koegel, R. L., Bimbela, A., & Schreibman, L. (1996). Collateral effects of parent training on family interactions. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26, 347–359.
Cowen, P. S. (2001). Effectiveness of a parent education intervention for at‐risk families. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 6(2), 73-82.

Parenting With Love and Limits (Savannah, GA)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Social Environment, Families

Goal: The goal of the Parenting with Love and Limits® (PLL) program is to improve behavioral problems in children by providing therapy and training to parents in order to restore a level of competent, effective parenting and create greater family connectedness.

Impact: Youth in the PLL group had significantly greater reductions in conduct disorder problem behaviors compared with youth in the control group. Specifically, they had greater improvements in anxiety/depression, withdrawn/depression, social problems, attention problems, rule-breaking problems, aggressive behaviors, internalizing problems, and externalizing problems.

Peacemakers Program

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / School Environment, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce aggressive behavior among children and adolescents.

Impact: An evaluation found significant, positive program effects on six of the seven variables assessed, including knowledge of psychosocial skills, self-reported aggression, and teacher-reported aggression, with a 41% decrease in aggression-related disciplinary incidents and a 67% reduction in suspensions for violent behavior.

Peers Making Peace

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / School Environment, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve the school environment by reducing violence, assaults, discipline referrals, and increasing academic performance.

Impact: An evaluation found that discipline referrals decreased by 57.7%, assaults decreased by 90.2%, and expulsions decreased by 73.0% in participating schools.

Safe Streets (Baltimore, MD)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: To combat the epidemic of violence among Baltimore’s youth and support traditional public safety strategies using a combination of public health and human service models to reduce violence.

Impact: It was estimated that the program was associated with 5.4 fewer homicide incidents and 34.6 fewer nonfatal shooting incidents during 112 cumulative months of intervention post observations.

Saving Lives (Massachusetts)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Public Safety

Goal: The goal of this program was to improve transportation safety in Massachusetts.

Impact: The Saving Lives Program successfully reduced drunk driving by 42% and speeding-related crashes by 25% through community-based, innovative, and cost-effective interventions.

Trauma Center Intervention for Alcohol Disorders (Albuquerque, NM)

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Adults

Goal: The goal of the Trauma Center Intervention for Alcohol Disorders is to reduce driving under the influence.

An Effective Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

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.
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:

The program description includes: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program funding source, program implementation steps and outcomes.
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:

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.
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.
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.