Strategies

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

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

Adult drug courts

Use specialized courts to offer adults who are charged with an offense and have substance use disorders an alternative to adjudication or incarceration

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Advocacy for victims of intimate partner violence

Work to partner with victims/survivors of intimate partner violence, help them with safety plans, and link them to community services (e.g., legal, housing, financial advice, emergency shelter, etc.)

Evidence Rating:

Insufficient Evidence

Alcohol outlet density restrictions

Limit increases in the number and concentration of alcohol outlets by area or by population through licensing or zoning regulations

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

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

Bicycle helmet laws

Establish laws that require bicyclists to wear helmets; laws can apply to children or all bicyclists and can be established at the state or local level

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS)

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

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Car seat distribution & education programs

Provide parents with car seats free of charge, via loan or low cost rental, often with education about proper installation and use

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Car seat education & enforcement campaigns

Share information about the importance of proper car seat use and enforce existing laws via checkpoints, dedicated law enforcement officials, etc.

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Car seat incentive & education programs

Educate parents and caregivers about proper use of car seats and reward parents and/or children for correct use

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

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

Child bicycle helmet promotion programs

Promote child bicycle helmet use via bicycle safety education, media campaigns, or provision of free or subsidized helmets

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Child firearm access prevention laws

Impose penalties on adults for a child’s unsupervised access to firearms

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

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

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for individuals involved in the justice system

Use individual or group therapy to help individuals involved in the justice system discover and change the thought processes that lead to maladaptive behavior

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

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 policing

Implement a policing philosophy based on community partnership, organizational transformation, and problem-solving techniques to proactively address public safety issues: also called community-oriented policing

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

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

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

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

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

DARE to be You

Provide education and training sessions with parent-child activities and family meals for youth, parents, and care providers

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

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

Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)

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

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Enhanced seat belt enforcement programs

Add publicity and other strategies (e.g., supplemental patrols, increased officers, etc.) to efforts to enforce existing seat belt laws

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

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

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

Families and Schools Together

Convene small groups of families for facilitated weekly meetings that include a family meal, structured activities, parent support time, and parent-child play therapy

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

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

Father involvement programs

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

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

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 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

Firearm licensing laws

Require a potential purchaser to obtain a permit or license before purchasing a firearm

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

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

Focused deterrence strategies

Target a particular crime through law enforcement and community agency cooperation and coordination of various deterrents and social services; also called pulling levers policing

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Functional Family Therapy (FFT)

Introduce a short-term family-based intervention therapy focused on strengths, protective factors, and risk factors for youth with delinquency, violence, or substance abuse problems, and their families

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Georgia Fatherhood Program

Provide employment-based services for non-custodial fathers who pay child support and experience a job loss or a decrease in income

Evidence Rating:

Insufficient 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

Group prenatal care

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

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Group-based parenting programs

Teach parenting skills in a group setting using a standardized curriculum, often based on behavioral or cognitive-behavioral approaches and focused on parents of at-risk children

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

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