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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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The Hundred Year Association of New York Municipal Awards Program (New York, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Educational Attainment

Goal: The goal of this program is to recognize and reward outstanding public service, academic excellence, and community service.

The Incredible Years: Palm Beach County (Palm Beach County, FL)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Families

Goal: The program aims to promote social, emotional, and academic competence and to prevent children from developing conduct problems.

Impact: The Incredible Years series has been shown to increase positive parenting practices and family communication while reducing children's conduct problems.

The Medical University of South Carolina Psychiatry Residency Diversity Program

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The MUSC Psychiatry Residency program has the following goals related to diversification of the health care professional pool:
- increased racial and ethnic diversity reflecting the general South Carolina population
- promotion of racial/ethnic and gender diversity in leadership positions within the School of Medicine
- promotion of cultural competency and understanding
- more opportunities within the College of Medicine at all levels for individuals from all backgrounds

Impact: The proportion of URM applicants to MUSC psychiatry residencies increased from 8% in 2008 to 17% in 2015. The percentage of URM psychiatry residents enrolled in MUSC has tripled over the last seven years, from 9% in 2008 to 28% in 2015.

The Neighborhood Work Project (New York, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment

Goal: For over 25 years, CEO's consistent goal has been to provide immediate, comprehensive, and effective employment services for men and women returning from prison and others under community supervision in New York City.

Think Big Clubs - Teen Mentoring (Palm Beach and Martin, FL)

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

Goal: The goal of the program is to match high school students to elementary school students in a mentoring relationship.

Thoreau Community Center (Thoreau, NM)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Community & Business Resources, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The Thoreau Community Center provides resources and special programs focused on health/well-being, education, and recreation in order to inspire hope, joy, and progress within Thoreau and neighboring communities.

Touchpoints (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families

Goal: To strengthen families of young children and the systems of care that surround them so that all children will be successful early learners and have the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their cultural, socioeconomic, physical, psychological, emotional health, or environmental challenges.

Touchpoints: Palm Beach (Palm Beach County, FL)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families, Urban

Goal: To strengthen families of young children and the systems of care that surround them so that all children will be successful early learners and have the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their cultural, socioeconomic, physical, psychological, emotional health, or environmental challenges.

Training for Adoption Competency (TAC)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Families

Goal: Training for Adoption Competency (TAC) is a post-Master’s curriculum designed by C.A.S.E. with the assistance of a National Advisory Board of adoption experts. Through classroom and remote instruction as well as clinical case consultation, TAC students master 12 domains that are critical to adoption-competent mental health services.

Tree Canada / Arbres Canada (Canada)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Children

Goal: The goal of the Greening Canada’s Schools Grounds Program is to replace schoolyard asphalt with vegetation in order to enhance its play, educational, ecological and aesthetic value for school children.

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.