Strategies

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

Alcohol advertising restrictions

Restrict the content and placement of alcohol advertisements on broadcasts, outdoor displays, internet marketing, etc. via state laws, local ordinances, industry self-regulation, or a combination of efforts

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Alcohol days of sale restrictions

Limit when alcohol can be sold in bars, restaurants, and/or liquor and convenience stores; limits may apply to days or times of sale

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Allied dental professional scope of practice

Expand the role of allied dental professionals (e.g., hygienists, therapists, etc.) via changes to statute, dentist supervision requirements, etc.

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Ban the Box

Prohibit criminal history questions on job applications and postpone background checks

Evidence Rating:

Mixed Evidence

Bicycle & pedestrian master plans

Establish a framework to increase walking and biking trails and improve connectivity of non-auto paths and trails in a particular area

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Bicycle infrastructure for enhanced cycling safety

Accommodate or provide dedicated infrastructure for cyclists via bicycle paths, lanes, cycle tracks or protected lanes, etc.

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS)

Match disadvantaged or at-risk youth with volunteer mentors in school or community settings

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Broadband initiatives for unserved and underserved areas

Expand broadband availability and adoption in unserved and underserved areas through initiatives that address infrastructure and cost barriers

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Charter schools

Establish publicly financed schools that are not subject to many of the regulations that govern traditional public schools, such as staffing, curriculum, and budgeting requirements.

Evidence Rating:

Mixed Evidence

Child-focused advertising restrictions for unhealthy foods & beverages

Restrict child-focused advertising for unhealthy foods and beverages via bans on unhealthy food and drink ads during children’s TV programs, product placement in children’s movies, etc.

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

College-based obesity prevention educational interventions

Support multi-component educational interventions for college students that address nutrition, physical activity, and healthy weight management; often with environmental modifications

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Community Development Block Grants (CDBGs)

Provide funding for local community development activities such as affordable housing, anti-poverty programs, and infrastructure development

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Community gardens

Establish and support land that is gardened or cultivated by community members via community land trusts, gardening education, zoning regulation changes, or service provision (e.g., water or waste disposal)

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Community health workers

Engage professional or lay health workers to provide education, referral and follow-up, case management, home visiting, etc. for those who experience barriers in accessing health care; also called promotoras(es) de salud or community health representatives

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Community land trusts

Purchase the land a home is on to lease to homeowners with low and middle incomes and require homeowners to sell the home back to the trust or to another resident with low income upon moving

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Community-based interventions for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination

Support HPV vaccination through multi-component community interventions, including education, outreach, navigation support, and vaccine provision

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Community-wide physical activity campaigns

Engage a variety of partners in a highly visible, multi-component effort to increase physical activity, often with efforts to address cardiovascular disease risk factors

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Comprehensive school reform

Implement a coordinated effort to overhaul school operation, integrating curriculum, instruction, professional development, parent involvement, classroom and school management; also called school-wide or whole school reform

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)

Support the federal-state partnership that pays participating landowners an annual rental rate for removing environmentally sensitive land from production and introducing conservation practices on the land.

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Consumer-directed health plans

Establish high deductible health plans paired with pre-tax medical expense accounts such as Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) or Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and information tools

Evidence Rating:

Mixed Evidence

Court mandated programs for perpetrators of intimate partner violence

Expand court-referred intimate partner violence offenders’ understanding of abuse, teach alternative reactions, and work to change gender role attitudes; also called batterer intervention programs (BIPs)

Evidence Rating:

Mixed Evidence

Crisis lines

Provide free and confidential counseling and service referrals via telephone-based conversation, web-based chat, or text message to individuals in crisis, particularly those with severe mental health concerns

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Cross-age youth peer mentoring

Establish an ongoing relationship between an older youth or young adult and a younger child or adolescent, usually an elementary or middle school student

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Cure Violence model

Use a public health approach to detect and intervene in potentially violent situations, educate and mobilize communities, and connect individuals at high risk of violence to services; formerly called Chicago CeaseFire

Evidence Rating:

Mixed Evidence

Debt advice for tenants with unpaid rent

Offer debt advice from trained providers to tenants with unpaid, overdue rent to help repay debt and increase financial literacy

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Drink special restrictions

Limit or ban alcohol establishments from serving alcohol at a reduced price as part of promotions; also called happy hour restrictions

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)

Provide confidential worksite-based counseling and referrals to employees to address personal and workplace challenges

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Extracurricular activities for physical activity

Provide chances for kids and adolescents to be active and play sports at various skill levels via structured or unstructured after and before school athletic activities

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Family-based physical activity interventions

Increase family members’ support for physical activity, often via educational sessions on health, goal-setting, problem-solving, or family behavioral management

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Farm to school programs

Incorporate locally grown foods into school meals and snacks, often with visits from food producers, cooking classes, nutrition and waste reduction efforts, and school gardens

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

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

Father involvement programs

Support fathers’ active involvement in child rearing via various father-focused or family-focused interventions

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Fentanyl test strip distribution programs

Provide free fentanyl test strips to detect the presence of fentanyl in different kinds of drugs and drug forms

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Financial education for adults

Provide education on basic budgeting, bank use, credit management, bankruptcy, credit building and counseling, homeownership, retirement, divorce, etc.

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Financial incentives for health professionals serving underserved areas

Expand incentives such as scholarships and loans with service requirements and loan repayment or forgiveness programs for health care providers who practice in rural or other underserved areas

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

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

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

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

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

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

Group prenatal care

Provide prenatal care in a group setting, integrating health assessment, education, and support

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

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

Health literacy interventions

Increase patients’ health-related knowledge via efforts to simplify health education materials, improve patient-provider communication, and increase overall literacy

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Healthy Families America (HFA)

Provide home visiting services to families who are at risk for adverse childhood experiences, starting prenatally or right after birth and continuing for three to five years

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

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

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

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

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

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

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

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