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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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Feed The Hungry (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: Feed The Hungry aims to fill your body and soul with a nourishing meal in an atmosphere of respect, acceptance and love.

Fitness and Mobility Exercise Program (FAME) (Vancouver, BC)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of the FAME intervention is to improve the fitness and mobility of individuals who have suffered a stroke.

Food Day (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: Food Day seeks to bring together Americans from all walks of life to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way.

Fulmer SPICES: An Overall Assessment Tool for Older Adults (New York, NY)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of this tool is to improve patient care for older adults by helping nurses to evaluate common conditions.

Geriatric Initiative (Charleston, West Virginia)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of the Geriatrics Initiative is to make healthcare more accessible and of higher quality for the elderly population served by Charleston Area Medical Center.

Geriatric Resources for Assessment and Care of Elders (GRACE) Model

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of the GRACE model is to increase quality of care for low-income seniors.

Impact: The GRACE model has been shown to improve quality of care and health outcomes in low-income seniors.

GIS Walking Maps (Boston, MA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: Walking maps are designed to encourage low-income individuals to increase their physical activity by providing information on safe walking routes and destinations within their neighborhood.

GLIDE Housing (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Housing & Homes, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: GLIDE Housing provides housing and housing assistance to homeless families, individuals recovering from substance abuse, and individual who are chronically homeless.

Good NEWS for Better Living through Improved Fitness and Education (Good NEWS for a Better L.I.F.E.) (Azle, TX)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults, Urban

Goal: The goal of Good NEWS for a Better L.I.F.E. is to improve the health of senior citizens through participation in educational and physical activities.

Green the Tenderloin (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: Green the Tenderloin provides urban gardening classes, fresh produce, and nutrition education to members of the community.

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.
Michigan Health Improvement Alliance