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 Effective Practice, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults, Rural
Goal: The purpose of the ombudsmen is to recognize potential problems and represent elderly and institutionalized clients throughout the state.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Urban
Goal: The goal of Parent Connext is to support parents in reducing and/or preventing toxic stress in the family and help children develop critical life skills and coping skills. Recent studies have found that up to 50% of health outcomes are attributable to social and economic factors and that lifetime costs associated with child maltreatment are comparable to other costly healthcare conditions such as stroke or type 2 diabetes. Moreover, 4 in 5 physicians report lacking confidence in their ability to meet patients’ social needs, which can impede their ability to provide high quality medical care. As a result, interventions that target parents’ social needs may have important implications for reducing healthcare costs and have the added benefit of enabling physicians to provide high-quality care to their patients.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Adults, Women, Men, Families, Urban
Goal: Parenting education programs are designed to teach and enhance skills and behaviors that enable parents to better understand their child, support their development, and provide a more stable and supportive family environment. Research supports the numerous benefits of such programs, finding that parenting education programs help parents to teach communication and social skills while reducing their stress and improving their sense of competence. Importantly, these positive program outcomes are true for families regardless of whether they are currently dealing with issues of maltreatment or are simply at risk for it.
The Parent Enrichment Program is for families who are at risk for having their children removed from the home or whose children have been removed from the home due to abuse or neglect. The goal of the program is to enhance existing parenting skills, connect participants to needed resources, and support their goals related to social and economic self-sufficiency. Specific program objectives are to improve skills related to positive parenting and financial stability, develop family protective factors that guard against abuse and neglect, and reduce safety threats.
References:
Charlop-Christy, M. H., & Carpenter, M. H. (2000). Modified incidental teaching sessions: A procedure for parents to increase spontaneous speech in their children with autism. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 2, 98–112.
Solomon, R., Necheles, J., Ferch, C., & Bruckman, D. (2007). Pilot study of a parent training program for young children with autism: The PLAY Project Home Consultation program. Autism, 11, 205–224.
Koegel, R. L., Bimbela, A., & Schreibman, L. (1996). Collateral effects of parent training on family interactions. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26, 347–359.
Cowen, P. S. (2001). Effectiveness of a parent education intervention for at‐risk families. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 6(2), 73-82.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children
Goal: The goal of PALS is to ensure that all students succeed in reading and math.
Peers Reaching Out and Modeling Intervention Strategies (PROMISE) (Texas, Colorado, California, New York, Washington)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Urban
Goal: The goal of Community PROMISE is to encourage HIV prevention practices.
Impact: PROMISE leads to significant community-wide progress toward consistent HIV risk reduction.
Filed under Good Idea, Education / School Environment, Children
Goal: This program uses technology and innovative design to help hospitalized children stay involved with their classrooms and other students.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: Re/Storing Nashville seeks to end hunger through creating a healthy, just and sustainable food system.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens
Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent and reduce substance use and abuse among high risk, multi-problem adolescents placed in residential child care facilities.
Impact: One evaluation showed that adolescents participating in RSAP showed significant reductions in their use of alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco from pretest to posttest measures.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The goals of the program are: 1) to promote abstinence maintenance among sexually abstinent students and encourage safer sex practices to sexually active students, 2) compare the effect of RAPP when taught by different providers, and 3) to explore the factors that impact a student's decision to engage in sexual activity.
Impact: Regular teacher-taught male (p=.001) and female students (p=.05) and peer-taught male students (p=.02) had the highest rates of delaying the onset of sexual activity.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases
Goal: The goal of this intervention is to prevent new STD infections.
Impact: The Safe in the City program shows that clinic waiting room videos displaying prevention knowledge and techniques can actually help to reduce the number of new infections of certain STDs.