Strategies

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

92 Strategies
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Recreational marijuana legalization

Allow adults to possess a limited amount of marijuana for personal, non-medical use; often called recreational marijuana laws (RMLs)
Evidence Rating:
Mixed Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Alcohol and drug use
  • Safety and social support

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies

Restorative justice in the criminal justice system

Use victim-offender dialogue to address the harm caused by a crime and victims’ needs; can take place pre-arrest or post sentence via sharing circles, victim-offender mediation, or face-to-face conferences
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices
  • Worldviews, culture and norms

Rollover protective structures (ROPS)

Attach metal bars, frames, or crush proof cabs to a tractor that provide a safety zone for an operator in the event of a rollover or overturn
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support

Scared Straight

Organize tours of prison facilities for juvenile delinquents or youth at risk of delinquency and allow them to observe prison life and attend inmates’ presentations; also called juvenile awareness programs
Evidence Rating:
Evidence of Ineffectiveness

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support

School or community-based abstinence-only education

Promote abstinence from sexual activity, generally only with mention of condoms and birth control to highlight failure rates
Evidence Rating:
Mixed Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Sexual activity

School-based intimate partner violence prevention programs

Provide youth with teen dating violence education that addresses healthy relationships, gender norms, relationship coercion, and violence in a school setting
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support

Social service integration

Coordinate access to services across delivery systems and disciplinary boundaries (e.g., housing, disability, physical health, mental health, child welfare, workforce services, etc.)
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices

Sports-related concussion education

Educate youth and college athletes, coaches, and parents about the severity of concussions in sports, proper prevention, detection, reporting, and treatment
Evidence Rating:
Insufficient Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support

Strong graduated driver licensing laws

Strengthen laws that allow young drivers to gain driving experience in stages; often includes passenger and nighttime driving limitations and higher minimum ages for learner’s permits, intermediate, and full licenses
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies