Strategies

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

13 Strategies
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Alcohol brief interventions

Provide information and increase motivation to change or prevent problematic alcohol consumption in a short session; also called alcohol screening & brief intervention

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Alcohol and Drug Use

Child care subsidies

Provide financial assistance to working parents, or parents attending school, to pay for child care

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Income

Community-based social support for physical activity

Build, strengthen, and maintain social networks that provide supportive relationships for behavior change through walking groups or other community-based interventions

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Diet and Exercise

Drug courts

Use specialized courts to offer criminal offenders with drug dependency problems an alternative to adjudication or incarceration

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Community Safety
  • Alcohol and Drug Use

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

Expand refundable earned income tax credits for working individuals and families with low to moderate incomes

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Income

Family treatment drug courts

Use specialized courts to work with parents involved in the child welfare system who may lose custody of their children due to substance abuse

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Community Safety
  • Alcohol and Drug Use

Full child support pass-through and disregard

Adopt policies that allow custodial parents who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to collect all child support paid by the non-custodial parent; no portion is retained by the state

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Income

Individually-adapted physical activity programs

Teach behavioral skills that can help individuals incorporate physical activity into their daily routines

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Diet and Exercise

Minimum wage increases

Increase the lowest hourly, daily, or monthly compensation that employers may legally pay to workers

Evidence Rating:
Mixed Evidence
  • Income

Multi-component obesity prevention interventions

Combine educational, environmental, and behavioral activities that increase physical activity and improve nutrition (e.g., nutrition education, aerobic/strength training, dietary prescriptions, etc.) in various settings

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Diet and Exercise