Strategies

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

44 Strategies
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Living wage laws

Establish locally mandated wages that are higher than state or federal minimum wage levels

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Income

Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs)

Provide funding via tax credits at the state and local level to support development and rehabilitation costs of low income rental housing

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Housing and Transit

Mass media campaigns against alcohol-impaired driving

Use mass media campaigns to persuade individuals to avoid drinking and driving or to prevent others from doing so; campaigns often focus on the negative consequences of alcohol-impaired driving

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Alcohol and Drug Use

Matched dollar incentives for saving tax refunds

Support programs that provide matched dollar incentives for low or moderate income individuals to place some or all of their tax refund in a savings account

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Income

Multi-component groundwater management programs

Protect underground water resources via regular groundwater monitoring, education about risks to groundwater, water quotas and taxes, and other efforts

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Air and Water Quality

New Hope Project

Provided work supports for low income individuals and families (e.g., job search assistance, transitional jobs, subsidized child care, health insurance, etc.); participants worked at least 30 hours/week

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Income

Out of town bypasses

Establish roads that avoid built-up areas such as towns, cities, or commercial/business districts

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Housing and Transit
  • Community Safety

Plastic bag bans

Prohibit the manufacture, use, and provision of single-use plastic bags, either partially or completely, and provide education and outreach to raise consumer awareness and support of bans

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Air and Water Quality

Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs)

Use databases, housed in state agencies, to track prescribing and dispensing of Schedule II, III, IV, and V drugs and other controlled substances

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Alcohol and Drug Use

Radon mitigation programs

Prevent radon from entering occupied buildings and reduce existing indoor air radon levels via soil depressurization, home or room pressurization, heat recovery ventilation, etc.

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Housing and Transit