Strategies

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

33 Strategies matching diabetes

Green space & parks

Increase green space through new parks or open spaces, renovation or enhancement of under-used recreation areas, rehabilitation of vacant lots, brownfields, etc.
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise
  • Civic and community resources
  • Climate

Group prenatal care

Provide prenatal care in a group setting, integrating health assessment, education, and support
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

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

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices

Healthy food initiatives in food pantries

Combine hunger relief efforts with nutrition information and healthy eating opportunities, often with on-site cooking demonstrations, recipe tastings, produce display stands, etc.
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise
  • Climate

Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8)

Provide eligible families with low and very low incomes with vouchers to help cover the costs of rental housing; also called Section 8
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Housing and transportation

Societal Rules

  • Budgets

Later middle and high school start times

Delay school start times for middle and high schools to better align with adolescent sleep-wake cycles; often until 8:30 a.m. or later
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Education

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

Multi-component obesity prevention interventions

Combine educational, environmental, and behavioral activities that increase physical activity and improve nutrition (e.g., nutrition education, aerobic/strength training, dietary prescriptions, etc.) in various settings
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise

Multisystemic Therapy (MST) for adolescents involved in the justice system

Use an intensive, family- and community-based intervention that addresses individual, family, and environmental risk factors that affect antisocial behaviors among adolescents who have committed serious offenses
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support

Nutrition prescriptions

Provide prescriptions with healthy eating goals for patients and families, often accompanied by progress checks at office visits and vouchers or other healthy food provisions; can include partnerships with local farmers markets or grocery stores
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise