Strategies

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

189 Strategies
Clear all

Farmers markets

Support multiple vendor markets where producers sell goods such as fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy items, and prepared foods directly to consumers

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Diet and Exercise

Financial rewards for employee healthy behavior

Offer payments, credits toward health insurance premiums, or other financial rewards to encourage employees to lose weight, eat more healthily, quit smoking, engage in physical activity, etc.

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Diet and Exercise

Firearm licensing laws

Require a potential purchaser to obtain a permit or license before purchasing a firearm

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Community Safety

Firearm restrictions for people convicted of domestic violence

Prohibit firearm purchase and possession by people convicted in any court of a domestic violence misdemeanor or by people subject to a domestic violence protective/restraining order

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Community Safety

Flexible scheduling

Offer employees control over an aspect of their schedule through arrangements such as flex time, flex hours, compressed work weeks, or self-scheduled shift work

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Employment

Focused deterrence strategies

Target a particular crime through law enforcement and community agency cooperation and coordination of various deterrents and social services; also called pulling levers policing

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Community Safety

Fruit & vegetable incentive programs

Offer participants with low incomes matching funds to purchase healthy foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables; often called bonus dollars, market bucks, produce coupons, or nutrition incentives

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Diet and Exercise

Fruit & vegetable taste testing

Offer samples of fresh fruits and vegetables in cafeterias, nutrition classes, school gardens, or workplace well-being meetings, often as part of a multi-faceted nutrition intervention

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Diet and Exercise

Full-day kindergarten

Offer kindergarten programs for 4 to 6-year-old children, five days per week for at least five hours per day

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Education

Functional Family Therapy (FFT)

Introduce a short-term family-based intervention therapy focused on strengths, protective factors, and risk factors for youth with delinquency, violence, or substance abuse problems, and their families

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Community Safety

Green space & parks

Increase green space through new parks or open spaces, renovation or enhancement of under-used recreation areas, rehabilitation of vacant lots, brownfields, etc.

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Diet and Exercise

Health care screening & follow-up for intimate partner violence

Assesses past or present experience of intimate partner violence among female patients in health care settings and provides follow-ups such as counseling or referrals for services

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Community Safety

Health career recruitment for minority students

Recruit and train underrepresented minority (URM) students for careers in health fields via information about health careers, classes, practicum experiences, advising about college or medical school admissions, etc.

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Education

Healthy food in convenience stores

Encourage convenience stores, corner stores, or gas station markets to carry fresh produce and other healthier food options

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Diet and Exercise

Healthy food initiatives in food pantries

Combine hunger relief efforts with nutrition information and healthy eating opportunities, often with on-site cooking demonstrations, recipe tastings, produce display stands, etc.

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Diet and Exercise

Healthy home environment assessments

Train volunteers, professionals, or paraprofessionals to help residents assess and reduce environmental home health risks and recommend low cost changes (e.g., improved ventilation, integrated pest management, etc.)

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Housing and Transit

Healthy school lunch initiatives

Modify the school lunch food environment or school lunch schedules by increasing the convenience of healthy foods, providing healthy options, or ensuring students have enough time to eat

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Diet and Exercise

Healthy vending machine options

Increase healthy options in vending machines by reducing the price of healthy choices, increasing the number of healthy choices compared to unhealthy choices, etc.

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Diet and Exercise

Helmets in collision sports

Use helmets to absorb, dissipate, and reduce impact forces to an athlete’s head and brain during collisions or falls

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Community Safety

High school completion programs

Provide supports such as mentoring, counseling, or vocational training, or change the school environment to help students complete high school

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Education

High school completion programs for pregnant and parenting teens

Provide pregnant and parenting teens with services such as education, vocational training, case management, health care, child care, and transportation assistance to support high school completion

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Education

High school equivalency credentials

Offer programs to help individuals without a high school diploma or its equivalent achieve a high school equivalency credential

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Education
  • Employment

HighScope Perry Preschool model

Provided high quality preschool with home visiting to African-American children from families with low incomes with an emphasis on active learning in Ypsilanti, Michigan

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Education

Home water temperature safety education

Educate families about safe tap water temperatures during prenatal or well-baby visits at clinic or home visits; often with home safety checks or provision of home water temperature safety equipment

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Community Safety

Homework or extra credit for PE class

Assign homework or extra credit activities for physical education (PE) or health classes that require students to be physically active outside of school

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Diet and Exercise

Hot spot policing

Focus police resources and enforcement on high-activity crime locations within a community (e.g., street blocks and buildings) using policing tactics such as increasing enforcement time, problem-oriented policing, etc.

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Community Safety

Household lead control education interventions

Inform parents and caregivers about lead exposure pathways from contaminated dust, soil, water, and air as well as the irreversible health consequences of lead exposure

Evidence Rating:
Evidence of Ineffectiveness
  • Housing and Transit
  • Air and Water Quality

Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8)

Provide eligible families with low and very low incomes with vouchers to help cover the costs of rental housing; also called Section 8

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Housing and Transit

Housing First

Provide rapid access to permanent housing and support (e.g., crisis intervention, needs assessment, case management), usually for chronically homeless individuals with persistent mental illness or substance abuse issues

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Housing and Transit

Housing rehabilitation loan & grant programs

Provide funding, primarily to families with low or middle incomes, to repair, improve, or modernize dwellings and remove health or safety hazards

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Housing and Transit

Inclusionary zoning & housing policies

Require developers to reserve a proportion of housing units for residents with low incomes via mandatory requirements or incentives, such as density bonuses

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Housing and Transit

Incredible Years

Support young children who exhibit or are at risk for behavioral problems with interpersonal relationship training and parents and teachers who are trained to meet their needs

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Education

Individual incentives for public transportation

Offer incentives such as free or discounted bus, rail, or transit passes, reimbursements, partial payments, or pre-tax payroll deductions to encourage individuals’ use of existing public transit

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Housing and Transit

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

Integrated pest management for indoor use

Support a four-tiered approach to indoor pest control that minimizes potential hazards to people, property, and the environment

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Housing and Transit

Internet-based tobacco cessation interventions

Use websites, computer programs, and other electronic means to provide information, strategies, or behavioral support to tobacco users who want to quit, sometimes with counseling or pharmacotherapy

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Tobacco Use

In-vehicle monitoring & feedback for teen drivers and families

Support use of in-vehicle devices that alert novice teen drivers when they have high g-force events (e.g., rapid acceleration, braking, or turning) and allow families to review driving performance

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Community Safety

Juvenile curfews

Restrict youth under a certain age from being in public places during certain hours, usually at night

Evidence Rating:
Evidence of Ineffectiveness
  • Community Safety

K-12 school finance reforms

Change state-level school finance systems to increase funding for school districts serving large populations of students from low income backgrounds, students of color, and students with disabilities, special needs, or limited English skills

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Education

Kinship foster care for children in the child welfare system

Arrange full-time foster care by relatives or adults who are not a child’s parent but have a family relationship with the child when a child is removed from home due to a safety concern

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Community Safety

Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) in middle schools

Emphasize high expectations for all students, parent and student commitment, empowered principals, and regular student assessments that inform continuous improvement in a lengthened school-year and school-day

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Education

Labor unions

Organize workers to bargain collectively for improved wages, benefits, and working conditions

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Employment
  • Employment

Land banking

Acquire, hold, manage, and develop properties such as vacant lots, abandoned buildings, or foreclosures, and transition them to productive uses, often affordable housing developments

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Housing and Transit
  • Diet and Exercise

Later middle and high school start times

Delay school start times for middle and high schools to better align with adolescent sleep-wake cycles; often until 8:30 a.m. or later

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Education

Lead paint abatement programs

Eliminate lead-based paint and contaminated dust by removing or encapsulating lead paint, or removing lead painted fixtures and surfaces

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Housing and Transit

Legal support for tenants in eviction proceedings

Provide legal representation for tenants with low incomes in eviction proceedings or offer limited legal assistance to prepare tenants to represent themselves in court

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Housing and Transit

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 tobacco use

Use broad media-based efforts to educate large groups of current and potential tobacco users about the dangers of tobacco use

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Tobacco Use

Mentoring programs for high school graduation

Establish programs that connect students at risk of dropping out with trained adult mentors who provide ongoing guidance for academic and personal challenges

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Education