Strategies

What Works for Health includes evidence-informed strategies to create communities where everyone can thrive.

79 Strategies
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School-based nutrition education programs

Address nutrition in schools via educational (e.g., classroom or curricula-wide efforts, peer training, etc.), environmental (e.g., school menus, classroom snacks, etc.), and other approaches

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Diet and Exercise

Service-enriched housing

Provide permanent, basic rental housing with social services available on-site or by referral, usually for families with low incomes, older adults, veterans, or people with disabilities

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Housing and Transit

Shared use agreements

Create contracts that support community access to existing public, private, or nonprofit facilities before or after business hours; also called joint use, open use, or community use agreements

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Diet and Exercise

Smoke-free policies for multi-unit housing

Implement private sector rules or public sector regulations that prohibit smoking in and around multi-unit housing

Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion
  • Tobacco Use

Smoke-free policies for outdoor areas

Implement private sector rules or public sector regulations that prohibit smoking outdoors or restrict it to designated areas

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Tobacco Use

State-level minimum nurse staffing requirements for nursing homes

Establish state level regulations that require nursing homes to employ at least a set number of licensed and non-licensed nursing staff, often set in terms of staff hours per resident day

Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion
  • Quality of Care

Tax increment financing (TIF) for affordable housing

Create designated tax districts that generate revenue to invest in affordable housing initiatives, blight remediation, and economic development efforts

Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion
  • Housing and Transit

Teen pregnancy prevention programs

Support school-, community-, and clinic-based teen pregnancy prevention programs such as comprehensive sex education, HIV/STI prevention and youth development efforts, service learning, etc.

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Sexual Activity

Tobacco cessation contests

Encourage participants to quit using tobacco by a set date or during a specific time period and give successful participants a chance to win financial rewards or other prizes; often called Quit & Win contests

Evidence Rating:
Insufficient Evidence
  • Tobacco Use

Tobacco marketing restrictions

Limit promotion, placement, flavoring, or pricing of tobacco products via regulation

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Tobacco Use