Strategies

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

18 Strategies
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Chronic disease self-management (CDSM) programs

Provide educational and behavioral interventions that support patients’ ability to actively manage their condition(s) in everyday life
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

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 Conditions

  • Clinical care

Faith community nursing

Position registered nurses within a parish or similar faith community, or in a health care system to serve as a liaison to congregations; also called parish nursing or congregational nursing
Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs)

Increase support for non-profit health care organizations and deliver comprehensive care to uninsured, underinsured, and vulnerable patients regardless of ability to pay; often called community health centers (CHCs)
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies

Hospital wristband color standardization

Establish national standards for the colors of patient wristbands used to alert health care providers about specific conditions such as allergies or elevated fall risk
Evidence Rating:
Insufficient Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Medical homes

Provide continuous, comprehensive, whole person primary care that uses a coordinated team of medical providers across the health care system
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices

Mobile health for mental health

Deliver health care services and support to individuals with mental health concerns via mobile devices using text messaging or mobile apps
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Multi-component fall prevention interventions for older adults

Provide a fixed, multi-component set of fall prevention interventions to older adults, usually in community settings, without an individualized risk assessment
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

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

Public reporting of health care-associated infections

Make health care facilities’ health care-associated or hospital-acquired infection (HAI) rates readily available to patients and providers
Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices