Strategies

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

300 Strategies
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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

Community Conditions

  • 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 Conditions

  • Safety and social support

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

Community Conditions

  • Education

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies
  • Budgets

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 Conditions

  • Safety and social support

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies

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

Community Conditions

  • Education

Labor unions

Organize workers to bargain collectively for improved wages, benefits, and working conditions
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Income, employment and wealth
  • Civic and community resources

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices
  • Governance
  • Worldviews, culture and norms

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

Community Conditions

  • Housing and transportation
  • Air, water and land
  • Civic and community resources

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices

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

Community Conditions

  • Education

Lead contaminated soil abatement interventions

Clean, remove, replace, or cover lead contaminated soil with non-contaminated soil, mulch, sod, grass, or concrete
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Air, water and land

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies

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

Community Conditions

  • Housing and transportation
  • Air, water and land

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies