Strategies

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

56 Strategies
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Promise Academy Charter Schools

Create a school culture of high behavioral and academic expectations, with intense tutoring, increased teacher performance feedback, lengthened instruction time, and health care services

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Education

Rapid re-housing programs

Transition families and individuals experiencing homelessness into permanent housing quickly, often with supports such as short-term financial assistance, case management, landlord negotiations, etc.

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Housing and Transit

Reach Out and Read

Partner with doctors, nurse practitioners, and other medical professionals to incorporate literacy support into regular well-child visits, especially in lower income communities

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Education

Safe Routes to Schools

Promote walking and biking to school through education, incentives, and environmental changes; often called SRTS

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Housing and Transit
  • Diet and Exercise

School-community liaisons

Provide students from public schools, from low income backgrounds, or who have a high risk of dropping out and their families with information about social services and health care supports; also called community resource or family and community liaisons

Evidence Rating:
Insufficient Evidence
  • Education

Secondhand smoke education interventions

Use counseling, informational materials, etc. to inform smokers and non-smokers of the harms of secondhand smoke and encourage them to implement home smoking bans

Evidence Rating:
Mixed Evidence
  • Tobacco Use

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 Safety

Summer learning programs

Provide academic instruction to students during the summer, often along with enrichment activities such as art or outdoor activities

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Education

Summer youth employment programs

Provide short-term employment opportunities for youth, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Community Safety
  • Employment

Tax increment financing (TIF) for affordable housing

Create designated tax districts that generate revenue to invest in affordable housing initiatives, blight remediation, and economic development efforts

Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion
  • Housing and Transit