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 Local, 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, Economy / Employment, Adults
Goal: Spectrum Vocational Services provides individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities the opportunity to achieve career and personal goals.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults
Goal: The goal of this program is to improve colorectal cancer screening rates among older adults.
Impact: Participants in the intervention group had significantly higher colorectal cancer screening attendance, as well as having more positive attitudes about screening and placing a higher priority on screening.
CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Mental Health & Mental Illness: Collaborative Care for the Management of Depressive Disorders (USA)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Adults
Comparative Cost Analysis of Housing and Case Management Program for Chronically Ill Homeless Adults Compared to Usual Care (Chicago, Illinois)
Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Urban
Goal: To assess the costs of a housing and case management program in a novel sample: homeless adults with chronic medical illnesses.
Impact: Compared to usual care, the intervention group generated an average annual cost savings of (−)$6,307 per person (95 percent CI: −16,616, 4,002; p = .23). Subgroup analyses of chronically homeless and those with HIV showed higher per person, annual cost savings of (−)$9,809 and (−)$6,622.
Effect of a housing and case management program on emergency department visits and hospitalizations among chronically ill homeless adults: a randomized trial (Chicago, Illinois)
Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: To assess the effectiveness of a case management and housing program in reducing the use of urgent medical services among homeless adults with chronic medical illnesses.
Impact: For every 100 homeless adults offered the intervention, the expected benefits over the next year would be 49 fewer hospitalizations, 270 fewer hospital days, and 116 fewer ED visits.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Women
Goal: The Illinois WISEWOMAN program (IWP) aims to lower heart disease and other chronic disease risk factors through screening and lifestyle classes for women in high-risk populations in service counties throughout Illinois.
Impact: The Illinois WISEWOMAN Program addresses the disproportionate risk of cardiovascular disease among disadvantaged, low-income women. Participation in the program has been shown to improve dietary, physical activity and cardiovascular outcomes.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Urban
Goal: The goal of the Chicago Housing Health Partnership is to use tailored case management to place chronically medically ill homeless individuals in stable, long-term housing and facilitate access to medical services.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders
Goal: The goal of the Critical Time Intervention is to prevent homelessness among people with severe mental illness.
Impact: Evaluations of this program have found sizable reductions (24-67%) in average number of nights spent homeless over the 18-month follow-up period and more than a 60% reduction in likelihood of being homeless in the final weeks of the 18-month follow-up. Cost offsets and savings have been shown.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Food Safety, Children, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The goal of the Fight BAC! campaign is to educate the public about four basic practices - clean, separate, cook and chill - that reduce the risk of foodborne illness.
Impact: The study showed that culturally competent, social marketing campaigns are likely to improve awareness, knowledge, and attitudes around food safety among Latino consumers.