Strategies

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

184 Strategies
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Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP)

Provide home visiting services to low income, first time mothers and their babies, starting during pregnancy and continuing through a child’s second birthday
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support

Nutrient management plans

Support site-specific plans for crop production that match nutrient applications to crop needs, typically with agricultural best management practices
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Air, water and land
  • Climate

Nutrition and physical activity interventions in preschool & child care

Offer young children opportunities to eat healthy foods and engage in physical activity by providing fresh fruits and vegetables, incorporating physical activity into daily classroom routines, etc.
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise

Paid family leave

Provide employees with paid time off for circumstances such as a recent birth or adoption, a parent or spouse with a serious medical condition, or a sick child
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Income, employment and wealth

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices
  • Laws and policies

Participatory budgeting

Engage community members to determine how public budgets are spent, ideally to improve neighborhood conditions and reduce inequality.
Evidence Rating:
Mixed Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Civic and community resources

Societal Rules

  • Budgets
  • Governance

Patient financial incentives for preventive care

Use payments, vouchers, and other incentives to encourage patients to undergo preventive care such as screenings, vaccinations, etc.
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Patient navigators

Provide culturally sensitive assistance and care coordination, and guide patients through available medical, insurance, and social support; also called systems navigators
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices

Patient safety checklists

Use visual tools to prompt safe practices, standardize communication, and ensure no step is forgotten before, during, or after a medical procedure or other health care situation
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Patient shared decision making

Support joint decision making between health care practitioners and patients through shared decision making (SDM); part of patient-centered care
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices
  • Worldviews, culture and norms

Payday loan regulations

Regulate short-term loans that must be repaid by a borrower’s next pay day via bans, caps on maximum interest rates and loan amounts, or require minimum loan terms and credit cost
Evidence Rating:
Mixed Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Income, employment and wealth

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies