Strategies

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

87 Strategies
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Public libraries for community building

Lend materials, offer gathering space, and provide educational, civic, and social programming; open to the community and publicly funded

Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion
  • Family and Social Support

Rain barrels

Use ready-made or home constructed barrel systems to collect and store rainwater from rooftops that would otherwise flow to storm drains and streams

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Air and Water Quality

Refundable child and dependent care tax credit

Offer a refundable tax credit to working families with qualifying children or other dependents that receive care outside the home (e.g., a spouse with disabilities)

Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion
  • Income

School-based suicide risk awareness programs

Train school staff or students to identify signs of suicidality, screen students for suicide risk, or deliver a curriculum-based program that helps all students learn to recognize warning signs of suicide in themselves and others

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Education

School-based trauma counseling

Help students process trauma exposure and develop coping skills through individual or small group counseling with mental health professionals or school staff with trauma-specific training

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Education

Scrap programs for old vehicles

Provide incentives to trade in old cars or light duty trucks with low fuel efficiency and high emissions and buy new vehicles with higher efficiency and lower emissions; also called scrappage or vehicle early retirement programs

Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion
  • Air and Water Quality

Sector-based workforce initiatives

Provide industry-focused education and job training based on the needs of regional employers within specific sectors

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Employment