Strategies

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

196 Strategies
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Public transportation systems

Introduce or expand transportation options that are available to the public and run on a scheduled timetable (e.g., buses, trains, ferries, rapid transit, etc.)
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Housing and transportation
  • Civic and community resources
  • Climate

Societal Rules

  • Budgets
  • Worldviews, culture and norms

Publicly funded pre-kindergarten programs

Provide publicly funded pre-kindergarten (pre-K) education to 3- and 4-year-olds, through large-scale or universal efforts
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Education

Societal Rules

  • Budgets

Rain gardens & other bioretention systems

Establish bioretention systems (e.g., rain gardens, bioretention cells, green roofs, planter boxes, bioswales, etc.) to make city landscapes more permeable to help control stormwater
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Air, water and land
  • Climate

Reach Out and Read

Partner with doctors, nurse practitioners, and other medical professionals to incorporate literacy support into regular well-child visits, especially in lower income communities
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Education
  • Safety and social support

Restorative justice in the criminal justice system

Use victim-offender dialogue to address the harm caused by a crime and victims’ needs; can take place pre-arrest or post sentence via sharing circles, victim-offender mediation, or face-to-face conferences
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices
  • Worldviews, culture and norms

Rollover protective structures (ROPS)

Attach metal bars, frames, or crush proof cabs to a tractor that provide a safety zone for an operator in the event of a rollover or overturn
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support

Rural training in medical education

Expand medical school training and learning experiences focused on the skills necessary to practice successfully in rural areas
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices

Safe Routes to Schools

Promote walking and biking to school through education, incentives, and environmental changes; often called SRTS
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Housing and transportation
  • Diet and exercise
  • Climate

Sales to intoxicated persons (SIP) law enforcement

Increase enforcement of laws that prohibit alcoholic beverage service to intoxicated customers, usually with fines, imprisonment, or revocation of a license
Evidence Rating:
Insufficient Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Alcohol and drug use

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices