Strategies

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

219 Strategies
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Trauma-informed approaches to community building

Support and strengthen traumatized and distressed residents and communities and address effects of community trauma (e.g., poverty, violence, structural racism, etc.) via a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder, and multilevel approach

Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion
  • Family and Social Support

Unemployment insurance (UI)

Increase compensation provided to unemployed workers looking for jobs by expanding eligibility, amount, or duration of benefits

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Income

Unhealthy snack taxes

Increase the price of snack products high in sugar and fat by adding an excise or sales tax

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Diet and Exercise

Universal basic income

Provide all individuals with regular cash transfers, without conditions, over their lifetimes

Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion
  • Income

Urban agriculture

Support food-producing and income-earning activities in urban environments (e.g., edible landscapes, front yard or rooftop gardens, window farming, hydroponics, livestock, etc.)

Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion
  • Diet and Exercise

Value-based purchasing (VBP)

Use the purchasing power of employers and groups of insured individuals to create incentives and disincentives for health care providers to deliver high quality, high value care

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Quality of Care

Voter registration initiatives

Increase the number of registered voters through initiatives that reduce barriers and expand accessibility, including automatic voter registration (AVR), voter registration drives, easing voter registration requirements, and expanding registration sites

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Family and Social Support

Voter turnout initiatives

Increase voter turnout through get-out-the-vote campaigns and initiatives to make voting more convenient such as allowing early in-person voting, vote-by-mail, or expanding polling locations and hours

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Family and Social Support

Walking school buses

Arrange active transportation with a fixed route, designated stops, and pick up times when children can walk to school with adult chaperones

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Housing and Transit
  • Diet and Exercise

Water availability & promotion interventions

Make water readily available in various settings via regular placement of drinking fountains, water coolers, bottled water in vending machines, etc.

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Diet and Exercise