Strategies

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

86 Strategies
Clear all

Social host laws

Adopt laws that hold private property owners who provide alcohol to minors or obviously intoxicated individuals on their property liable if someone is killed or injured as a result

Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion
  • Alcohol and Drug 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

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 Safety

Summer youth employment programs

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

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Community Safety
  • Employment

Syringe services programs

Provide sterile injection equipment and often other treatment and referral services to people who inject drugs; also called needle or syringe exchange programs and needle syringe programs

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Alcohol and Drug Use

Traffic calming

Modify the built environment to affect traffic speed and patterns via speed humps, pedestrian center crossing islands, roundabouts, etc.

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Housing and Transit
  • Community Safety

Trauma-informed juvenile justice systems

Support a trauma-informed juvenile justice system to recognize and respond to trauma’s impact on youth through staff training and broad adoption of trauma-informed practices and policies

Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion
  • Community Safety

Treatment Foster Care

Place youth with mental, emotional, and behavioral health challenges in foster families that provide a structured, nurturing, therapeutic environment; also called Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC)

Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence
  • Community Safety

Treatment Foster Care Oregon

Place severely and chronically delinquent youth in foster families that are trained in structured behavior management and connected to TFCO program staff; formerly called Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care

Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported
  • Community Safety