Strategies

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

117 Strategies matching mental health

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

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

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies

Fentanyl test strip distribution programs

Provide free fentanyl test strips to detect the presence of fentanyl in different kinds of drugs and drug forms
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Alcohol and drug use

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

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Societal Rules

  • Budgets

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

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies

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

Community Conditions

  • Income, employment and wealth

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices

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

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

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support

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