Strategies

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

300 Strategies
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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

Community Conditions

  • Income, employment and wealth

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies

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

Community Conditions

  • 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 Conditions

  • Safety and social support

Gender-affirming care for youth

Provide supportive, gender-affirming care to trans, non-binary, and gender-expansive youth
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices
  • Laws and policies
  • Worldviews, culture and norms

Green House homes

Support self-contained, homelike dwellings for 10-12 elderly adults who require nursing care; universal caregivers, usually CNAs, provide care and other supports while clinical teams visit for specialized care
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

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

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise
  • Civic and community resources
  • Climate

Group prenatal care

Provide prenatal care in a group setting, integrating health assessment, education, and support
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Group-based parenting programs

Teach parenting skills in a group setting using a standardized curriculum, often based on behavioral or cognitive-behavioral approaches and focused on parents of at-risk children
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support

Health care provider reminder systems for tobacco cessation

Implement systems that help health professionals support patient tobacco cessation, often with referrals, self-help pamphlets, and pharmacotherapy
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Tobacco use

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 Conditions

  • Safety and social support