Promising Practices

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the movement of Californians who are becoming Champions for Change are: 1. Eating Healthy; 2. Moving More; 3. Drinking more water and fewer sugary drinks; 4. Using CalFresh benefits to help buy healthier foods for your family; 5. Connecting with other Champions for Change.

Impact: A program using social media and integrated grassroots activities can potentially successfully influence healthy behavior and community-level changes when it comes to eating and drinking healthier and exercising more.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Public Safety, Teens

Goal: The goal of the Checkpoints Program is to encourage parental limits on teen driving, and decrease risky teen driving.

Impact: The Checkpoints Program increased the rate at which parents placed greater limits on high-risk teen driving conditions and decreased traffic violations among teens.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Chicago Housing Health Partnership is to use tailored case management to place chronically medically ill homeless individuals in stable, long-term housing and facilitate access to medical services.

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce the negative impacts of divorce and separation on children.

Impact: Children of parents in the program said they felt caught in the middle less often compared to those of non-participants, and reported less stress in general. Parents who took the course also reported more awareness of their children's feelings, and had better communication with their children.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of the CLEAR intervention is to empower HIV-positive youth to reduce risk behaviors and improve mental and physical health.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Families

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide information about mood disorders to parents, equip parents with skills they need to communicate this information to their children, and open dialogue in families about the effects of parental depression.

Impact: Parents in the program scored better in their reports of child-related behavior and attitude changes of parental illness than parents who received a group-format presentation. Children in the program scored higher on measures of improved understanding of parental mood disorder than children who received a group-format lecture.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children

Goal: The goal of this program is to relieve symptoms of PTSD, depression, and general anxiety among children exposed to trauma.

Impact: Studies have found significant reductions in PTSD and depression symptoms for treatment children in CBITS when compared with a control group. Additionally, the program demonstrated effectiveness at reducing parent-reported psychosocial dysfunction among participating children.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Adults

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce disability in middle-aged and older people with schizophrenia.

Impact: At the end of treatment, CBSST participants had significantly greater cognitive insight scores, indicating more objectivity in reappraising psychotic symptoms relative to treatment as usual. At 1-year follow-up, participants in CBSST showed greater skill acquisition and significant improvements in social functioning relative to participants receiving treatment as usual.

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

Goal: The goal of Color Me Healthy is to promote and encourage physical activity and healthy eating among children ages four and five.

Impact: The program has had a positive impact on children's knowledge of and participation in physical activity. Similarly, it has had a positive impact on children's ability to recognize and their willingness to try fruits and vegetables. It has also increased children's fruit/vegetable snack consumption.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults

Goal: The goal of the Colorectal Web interactive website is to promote colorectal cancer screening.

Impact: Colorectal Web is more effective than a standard colorectal cancer website at prompting previously unscreened individuals to choose a preferred colorectal cancer screening test and to be screened for colorectal cancer.