Strategies

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

117 Strategies matching mental health

Activity programs for older adults

Offer group educational, social, creative, musical, or physical activities that promote social interactions, regular attendance, and community involvement among older adults
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise
  • Safety and social support
  • Civic and community resources

Adult drug courts

Use specialized courts to offer adults who are charged with an offense and have substance use disorders an alternative to adjudication or incarceration
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support
  • Alcohol and drug use

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies

Advocacy for victims of intimate partner violence

Work to partner with victims/survivors of intimate partner violence, help them with safety plans, and link them to community services (e.g., legal, housing, financial advice, emergency shelter, etc.)
Evidence Rating:
Insufficient Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support

Alcohol brief interventions

Provide information and increase motivation to change or prevent problematic alcohol consumption in a short session; also called alcohol screening & brief intervention
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Alcohol and drug use

Attendance interventions for chronically absent students

Support interventions that provide chronically absent students with resources to improve self-esteem, social skills, etc. and address familial and school-related factors that can contribute to poor attendance
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Education

Behavioral health primary care integration

Revise health care processes and provider roles to integrate mental health and substance abuse treatment into primary care; continue to refer patients with severe conditions to specialty care
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices

Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS)

Match disadvantaged or at-risk youth with volunteer mentors in school or community settings
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Safety and social support
  • Education

Blood alcohol concentration laws

Set legal limits for drivers’ blood alcohol concentrations (BACs)
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Alcohol and drug use

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies

Breastfeeding promotion programs

Provide education, information, counseling, and support for breastfeeding to parents throughout pre- and post-natal care
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise

Broadband initiatives for unserved and underserved areas

Expand broadband availability and adoption in unserved and underserved areas through initiatives that address infrastructure and cost barriers
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Income, employment and wealth
  • Civic and community resources

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies