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.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families
Goal: Program goals include prevention of negative birth outcomes (low birth weight, substance abuse, criminal activity, child abuse, and neglect), increased parenting skills, healthy pregnancy practices, and the use of social systems.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Wellness & Lifestyle, Women, Men
Goal: The goal of Healthy Relationships is to reduce the risk of HIV transmission by people who know they are HIV-positive by reducing the frequency with which they have unprotected sex.
Impact: Healthy Relationships seeks to develop decision making and problem making skills to reduce the risk and transmission of HIV through behavioral intervention. An intervention study resulted in significantly less unprotected intercourse and greater condom use with lower estimated HIV rates post-intervention.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Public Safety, Older Adults
Goal: The Pennsylvania Department of Aging offers this fall risk screening and prevention program to adults 50 years of age and older. The program is designed to raise awareness of falls, introduce steps on how to reduce falls, improve overall health, and provide referrals and resources.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke
Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends self-measured blood pressure monitoring interventions combined with additional support to improve blood pressure outcomes in patients with high blood pressure. Additional support may include patient counseling, education, or web-based support. Economic evidence indicates that self-measured blood pressure monitoring interventions are cost-effective when they are used with additional support or within team-based care.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke
Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends tailored pharmacy-based adherence interventions for cardiovascular disease prevention. Evidence shows interventions delivered by pharmacists in community and health system pharmacies increased the proportion of patients who reported taking medications as prescribed. The CPSTF also finds these interventions are cost-effective for cardiovascular disease prevention.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alternative Medicine, Older Adults
Goal: HeartStrings aims to enhance the quality of life for individuals with special needs. Through regularly-recurring, interactive sessions, the MSO’s Rhapsodie Quartet addresses the physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of hundreds of individuals each year in a comfortable and familiar setting.
HeartStrings mission statement is as follows:
1) To enhance the quality of life of underserved populations through live, interactive, and exceptional quality musical experiences that are informed by the American Music Therapy Association’s Standards of Practice.
2) To bring meaningful arts experiences directly to participants in a comfortable and
familiar setting.
3) To provide a valuable resource for facilities that serve aging populations, adults with dementia, and individuals with disabilities, or long-term illnesses.
Impact: HeartStrings has reached over 3,200 individuals with disabilities, long-term illness, and assisted-living needs, as well as aging adults with dementia since its start in 2006.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The goal of Hep Free Hawai'i is to offer hepatitis vaccinations, encourage Hawaiians to learn of their hepatitis status through testing, and connect individuals with hepatitis or liver disease to medical resources and support groups.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: To educate the Chinese Canadian immigrant community on Hepatitis B knowledge and to promote Hepatitis B testing through ESL curriculum.
Impact: The Chinese immigrant population in North America has a rate of Hepatitis B infection that is 10 times higher than the general population's rate of approximately 0.5 percent. The Hepatitis B ESL curriculum is effective in increasing knowledge about Hepatitis B among Chinese immigrants in Canada.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Adults
Goal: HIV Big Deal seeks to promote safer sex practices among men who have sex with men via internet-based video drama.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Women
Goal: The intervention aimed to reduce sexual risk behaviors, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and pregnancy, and enhance mediators of HIV-preventive behaviors.