Strategies

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

Adult vocational training

Support acquisition of job-specific skills through education, certification programs, or on-the-job training, often with personal development resources and other supports

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

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

Baby bonds

Establish publicly funded investment accounts for every newborn, accessible at age 18

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Ban the Box

Prohibit criminal history questions on job applications and postpone background checks

Evidence Rating:

Mixed Evidence

Behavioral health primary care integration

Revise health care processes and provider roles to integrate mental health and substance abuse treatment into primary care; continue to refer patients with severe conditions to specialty care

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Bridge programs for hard-to-employ adults

Provide basic skills (e.g., reading, math, writing, English language, or soft skills) and industry-specific training with other supports; also called occupationally contextualized basic education programs

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

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

Career pathways programs

Provide occupation-specific training for low-skilled individuals in high-growth industries, with education and supports, usually with stackable credentials and work experience opportunities

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Case-managed care for community-dwelling frail elders

Use a case management model for frail elderly patients living independently, coordinating aspects of long-term care (LTC) such as status assessment, monitoring, advocacy, care planning, etc.

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Certificates of employability

Issue certificates of employability to individuals with criminal convictions who have met pre-specified standards of rehabilitation; also called certificates of relief, reentry, good conduct, rehabilitation, recovery, etc.

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Child care subsidies

Provide financial assistance to working parents, or parents attending school, to pay for child care

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Child development accounts

Build assets through child development accounts (CDAs) with contributions from a sponsoring organization, such as government agencies or nonprofits, and family, friends; also called children’s savings accounts (CSAs)

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Child tax credit expansion

Expand federal or state child tax credits by increasing credit amounts, making credits refundable, decreasing or eliminating the earnings threshold, or creating a fully refundable supplement

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Chronic disease management programs

Implement multi-component efforts that include coordination of health services by multidisciplinary teams of health care professionals, patient self-management, and patient education

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

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 Development Financial Institutions

Support financial institutions providing services to underserved and disadvantaged communities

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

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 water fluoridation

Adjust and monitor fluoride levels in public water supplies to reach and retain optimal fluoride concentrations

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Community-based doulas

Provide culturally appropriate non-medical care and support throughout pregnancy, birth, and postpartum to birthing people at higher risk of poor outcomes and underserved by the medical community

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Comprehensive clinic-based programs for pregnant & parenting teens

Address the needs of teenage parents via clinic-based programs that provide health care and family planning services as well as case management, counseling, and other supports

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Consumer participation in health care governance

Involve consumers in health care governance via roles on governing boards, advisory committees, or shorter-term special projects

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

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

Cultural competence training for health care professionals

Increase health care providers’ skills and knowledge to understand and respond to cultural differences, value diversity, etc. via factual information, skills training, and other efforts

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Culturally adapted health care

Tailor health care to patients’ norms, beliefs, and values, as well as their language and literacy skills

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

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

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

Expand refundable earned income tax credits for working individuals and families with low to moderate incomes

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)

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

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

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

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

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 incentives for new nursing faculty

Offer loan repayment, tuition assistance, competitive academic salaries, etc. to students who teach in nursing programs after completing an advanced degree

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Flexible scheduling

Offer employees control over an aspect of their schedule through arrangements such as flex time, flex hours, compressed work weeks, or self-scheduled shift work

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Full child support pass-through and disregard

Adopt policies that allow custodial parents who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to collect all child support paid by the non-custodial parent; no portion is retained by the state

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

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

Group prenatal care

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

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Health insurance enrollment outreach & support

Provide outreach and support to assist those whose employers do not offer affordable coverage, who are self-employed, or who are unemployed

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

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

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

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

Housing reparations

Apologize for discriminatory housing policies; increase subsidies, financing, and paths to homeownership for people of color; and invest in systematically disadvantaged neighborhoods

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Individual Development Accounts (IDAs)

Support subsidized asset accumulation programs in which deposits by participants with low and moderate incomes are matched by program sponsors; withdrawals must be used for qualified expenses to retain matching funds

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Integrated long-term care for community-dwelling frail elders

Support a collaborative approach by a multidisciplinary team of professionals working to meet the full range of long-term care (LTC) needs for frail elderly patients living in community settings

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

J-1 physician visa waivers

Expand use of J-1 physician visa waivers for foreign national physicians who have trained in the U.S. and will serve patients in designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs)

Evidence Rating:

Insufficient Evidence

Job-sharing programs

Offer flexible working arrangements, allowing the duties of a single full-time position to be covered by two part-time employees

Evidence Rating:

Insufficient Evidence

Labor unions

Organize workers to bargain collectively for improved wages, benefits, and working conditions

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Land return for tribal restitution

Return the rights to land, property, and resources to Native people as part of policies and initiatives that promote tribal sovereignty

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Living wage laws

Establish locally mandated wages that are higher than state or federal minimum wage levels

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Long-acting reversible contraception access

Increase access to LARCs through cost reduction, comprehensive birth control counseling, provider training, efforts to ensure availability at local clinics, etc.

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Long-term care employee compensation

Increase wages and benefits for personal or home care workers, nurse aides, and others who provide direct care to patients in long-term care (LTC) settings

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

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