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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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CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Colorectal Cancer Prevention & Control, Provider-Oriented Screening Interventions: Provider Reminder & Recall Systems (USA)

CDC

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer

Goal: The goal of incorporating multicomponent interventions for cancer screenings is to increase colorectal cancer screenings, colonoscopies, and FOTB in communities.

Impact: Multicomponent interventions that include strategies that reduce and address structural barriers increase colorectal cancer screening rates by the largest margins and evidence shows that these interventions are also cost-effective.

CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Decreasing Tobacco Use Among Workers: Smoke-Free Policies to Reduce Tobacco Use (USA)

CDC

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

Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends smoke-free policies to reduce secondhand smoke exposure and tobacco use on the basis of strong evidence of effectiveness. Evidence is considered strong based on results from studies that showed effectiveness of smoke‑free policies in:

Reducing exposure to secondhand smoke
Reducing the prevalence of tobacco use
Increasing the number of tobacco users who quit
Reducing the initiation of tobacco use among young people
Reducing tobacco-related morbidity and mortality, including acute cardiovascular events
Economic evidence indicates that smoke-free policies can reduce healthcare costs substantially. In addition, the evidence shows smoke-free policies do not have an adverse economic impact on businesses, including bars and restaurants.

CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Interventions to Promote Seasonal Influenza Vaccinations among Healthcare Workers (USA)

CDC

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

Impact: Studies found a median increase of 21.0 percentage points in vaccination coverage among participants.

CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Interventions to Promote Seasonal Influenza Vaccinations among Non-Healthcare Workers (USA)

CDC

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

Impact: Studies found a median increase of 21.0 percentage points in vaccination coverage among participants.

CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Prevention of Birth Defects: Community-Wide Campaigns to Promote the Use of Folic Acid Supplements (USA)

CDC

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Children, Women

Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force has found that community-level education campaigns that promote the use of folic acid among women of child-bearing age can increase the number of these women who take folic acid supplements.

CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Promoting Health Equity, Education Programs and Policies: Full-Day Kindergarten (USA)

CDC

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

Goal: Children in low-income families often experience delays in language and other development by the age of three. Compensating for these delays before children begin regular schooling can be critical to providing them with equal opportunities for lifelong employment, income, and health.

Impact: Outcomes included self-confidence, ability to work or play with others, independence, and school attendance by the end of kindergarten or the beginning of first grade.

CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Universally Recommended Vaccinations: Home Visits to Increase Vaccination Rates (USA)

CDC

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

Impact: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends home visits to increase vaccination rates in children and adults.

The CPSTF notes, however, that economic evidence shows home visits can be resource-intensive and costly relative to other options.

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.