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 / Prevention & Safety
Goal: The goal of Emergency Department Means Restriction Education is to help parents and adult caregivers of at-risk youth recognize the importance of taking immediate action to restrict access to firearms, alcohol, and prescription and over-the-counter drugs in the home in order to lessen the risk of self harm.
Impact: The Means Restriction program shows that ED-based programs and provided practical information can help parents and adult caregivers of at-risk youth recognize the importance of taking immediate, new action to restrict access to dangers in the home.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The goal of this program is to use education and exercise improve outcomes for urban African American stroke survivors.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families
Goal: The goal of Family Friends is to offer support to families who are raising children with developmental disabilities or special needs.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children
Goal: The mission of the Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior (IVDB) is to empower schools and social service agencies to address violence and destructive behavior, at the point of school entry and beyond, in order to ensure safety and to facilitate the academic achievement and healthy social development of children and youth. The primary goal of this program is to divert antisocial kindergartners from an antisocial behavior pattern during their subsequent school careers and to develop in them the competencies needed to build effective teacher- and peer-related, social-behavioral adjustments.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Adults
Goal: The goal of "Flu in 15" is to increase the acceptance of the seasonal flu vaccine among healthcare workers.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children
Goal: The goal of the FRIENDS Programs is to teach cognitive-behavioral skills to reduce anxiety in elementary school students who are or were exposed to violence.
Impact: The FRIENDS Programs and specific studies of them indicate that school-based anxiety prevention programs can increase standardized mathematics achievement scores, decrease life stressors, and reduce victimization by community violence in children.
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.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to educate children about health and to prevent substance abuse and violence.
Impact: The Great Body Shop shows that comprehensive substance abuse and violence prevention and health curriculums in schools for elementary and middle school students can improve knowledge, values, thinking skills, and behaviors around substance abuse and violence topic areas.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Heart Disease & Stroke, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The Hair, Heart & Health program embraces the notion that health education at the community level is an effective intervention strategy for preventable diseases like CHD, stroke and kidney disease.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Children, Families
Goal: The goal of Early Head Start (EHS) is to promote healthy prenatal outcomes for pregnant women, enhance the development of very young children, and promote healthy family functioning. The goal of Head Start is to increase school readiness of young children in low-income families.
Impact: Studies have demonstrated positive effects of the program for both 3- and 4-year-old children on pre-reading, pre-writing, vocabulary, and parent reports of children’s literacy skills. For 3-year-olds, a greater number of parents reported improved access to health care and better health status.