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, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Urban
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 / Older Adults, Adults, Older Adults, Urban
CAPABLE is a 5-month structured home visit program delivered by an occupational therapist (OT), a registered nurse (RN), and a handyman to improve daily function in older adults and to lower the monthly average Medicaid expenditure and likelihood of costly healthcare services.
This study demonstrates that home visit programs can improve the daily quality of life in aging adults. Additionally, they can lead to a reduction in Medicaid expenditures via lower inpatient costs and lower long-term care costs.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders
The goal of the Critical Time Intervention is to prevent homelessness among people with severe mental illness.
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, Economy / Poverty, Adults, Women, Men, Families, Urban
Salzer MS, Schwenk E, Brusilovskiy E: Certified peer specialist roles and activities: results from a national survey. Psychiatric Services 61:520–523, 2010.
Repper J, Carter T: A review of the literature on peer support in mental health services. Journal of Mental Health 20: 392–411, 2011.
Cook JA: Peer-delivered wellness recovery services: from evidence to widespread implementation. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal 35:87–89, 2011
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
To evaluate the association of a “Housing First” intervention for chronically homeless individuals with severe alcohol problems with health care use and costs.
Total cost offsets for Housing First participants relative to controls averaged $2449 per person per month after accounting for housing program costs.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes
Children ages 12 years and younger whose households use vouchers show improvements in education, employment, and income later in life. Outcomes for adolescents vary by gender. Females 10-20 years of age whose families use tenant-based vouchers to live in lower poverty neighborhoods experience better health outcomes while males of the same age experience worse physical and mental health outcomes. Additional research is needed to better understand and address challenges faced by adolescent males.
CPSTF finds societal benefits exceed the cost of tenant-based housing voucher programs that serve families with young children who are living in public housing, provide pre-move counseling, and move families to neighborhoods with greater opportunities.
Tenant-based housing voucher programs give many people access to better housing and neighborhood opportunities, both of which are considered social determinants of health. Because these programs are designed for households with low incomes, they are expected to advance health equity.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Urban
Housing for Health program goals are to improve patients’ health, reduce costs to the public health system, and demonstrate DHS’s commitment to addressing homelessness within Los Angeles County.
The average public service utilization cost per participant for the year prior to housing totaled $38,146; in the year after receiving housing, it totaled $15,358. When taking into account PSH costs, RAND observed a 20-percent net cost savings, suggesting a potential cost benefit of the program.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Educational Attainment, Children
As a national, primarily residential training program, Job Corps' mission is to attract eligible young adults, teach them the skills they need to become employable and independent, and place them in meaningful jobs or further education.
Evaluations showed that Job Corps substantially increased the education and training that program participants received. Nearly 90% of the program group engaged in some education or training (both in and out of Job Corps), compared with about 64% of the control group.
Medicaid Savings Resulted When Community Health Workers Matched Those With Needs To Home And Community Care (Arkansas)
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Government Assistance, Older Adults
The goal of this program is to reduce costs by using specially trained community health workers to help connect people with unmet long-term needs and/or those at risk of entering nursing homes to Medicaid home and community-based services.
Similar interventions may help other localities achieve cost-saving and equitable access to publicly funded long-term care options other than institutional care.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Urban
The goal of Pathways to Housing, Inc. is to provide independent housing, treatment services for physical and mental health, and employment to mentally ill individuals who are chronically homeless.
Pathways to Housing has received numerous awards for its projects in New York City, Philadelphia, and D.C. In addition to achieving large effects in terms of housing outcomes, compared with standard care in the community, Housing First also improves community functioning and quality of life.