Strategies

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

90 Strategies
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Mixed-use development

Support a combination of land uses (e.g., residential, commercial, recreational) in development initiatives, often through zoning regulations or Smart Growth initiatives

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

Multi-component fall prevention interventions for older adults

Provide a fixed, multi-component set of fall prevention interventions to older adults, usually in community settings, without an individualized risk assessment

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Community Safety
  • Quality of Care

Multi-component workplace supports for active commuting

Provide physical infrastructure (e.g., bike parking or showers), educational or social support (e.g., walking groups), and financial incentives that support active commuting

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Housing and Transit
  • Diet and Exercise

Nurse practitioner scope of practice

Use regulation to extend nurse practitioners’ (NPs’) scope of practice to provide care to the full scope of their training and skills without physician oversight, especially for primary care

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Quality of Care

Nurse-friendly work environments

Improve work environments for nurses via establishment of strong nursing leadership, organizational support, etc.

Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion
  • Access to Care
  • Quality of Care

On-site child care

Provide employees with child care options at work; care may be provided free of charge, partially subsidized as part of an employee benefit package, or offered at market rates

Evidence Rating:
Insufficient Evidence
  • Employment

Out of town bypasses

Establish roads that avoid built-up areas such as towns, cities, or commercial/business districts

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Housing and Transit
  • Community Safety

Paid family leave

Provide employees with paid time off for circumstances such as a recent birth or adoption, a parent or spouse with a serious medical condition, or a sick child

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Employment

Paid sick leave laws

Require employers in an affected jurisdiction to provide paid time off for employees to use when ill or injured

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Employment

Patient financial incentives for preventive care

Use payments, vouchers, and other incentives to encourage patients to undergo preventive care such as screenings, vaccinations, etc.

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Quality of Care