Strategies

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

10 Strategies
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Activity programs for older adults

Offer group educational, social, creative, musical, or physical activities that promote social interactions, regular attendance, and community involvement among older adults
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise
  • Safety and social support
  • Civic and community resources

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

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support
  • Civic and community resources

Early childhood home visiting programs

Provide at-risk expectant parents and families with young children with information, support, and training regarding child health, development, and care from prenatal stages through early childhood via trained home visitors
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support

Extracurricular activities for social engagement

Support organized social, art, or physical activities for school-aged youth outside of the school time
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support
  • Civic and community resources

Family treatment drug courts

Use specialized courts to work with parents involved in the child welfare system who may lose custody of their children due to substance use; also called family treatment courts, family dependency treatment courts, or family drug courts
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support
  • Alcohol and drug use

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies

Intergenerational communities

Establish policies, plans, and programs that meet the needs of all residents of a community, especially children and older adults, and promote interaction and cooperation between individuals of different generations
Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support
  • Civic and community resources

Intergenerational mentoring and activities

Establish a relationship between an older adult and a child, adolescent, or college student through social interactions or a variety of educational and art activities
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support
  • Civic and community resources

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

Outdoor experiential education

Support outdoor pursuits and adventure-based activities that emphasize inter- and intra-personal growth through overcoming obstacles (e.g., challenge courses, wilderness excursions, etc.)
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support
  • Civic and community resources

Youth leadership programs

Provide youth with leadership building opportunities, often through social activities such as advocacy groups, peer education, youth-led participatory research, and local government youth advisory councils and boards
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support
  • Civic and community resources