Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP)
AMCHP defines “best practices” as a continuum of practices, programs and policies that range from emerging to promising to those that have been extensively evaluated and proven effective (“best practices”).
BEST PRACTICE (categories and criteria)
EMERGING PRACTICE
• Incorporates characteristics or theoretical foundations of other effective public health practices OR uses a novel approach that incorporates alternative foundations
• Based on guidelines, standards or models that have been proven effective
• Incorporates a process of continual quality improvement
•Has an evaluation plan in place to measure program outcomes
PROMISING PRACTICE (in addition to those listed above)
• Has strong evaluation data that demonstrates effectiveness of practice
BEST PRACTICE (in addition to those listed above)
• Has expert/peer review that demonstrates effectiveness of practice
• Has been replicated and produced desirable results in a variety of settings
• Has evaluation results that link positive outcomes to the practice and not outside factors
Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL)
APHL is in the early stages of developing a Model Practices database, which includes working with members and stakeholders to help us define model practices. Presently, APHL does not have any criteria for Best Practices.
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Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD)
“The ASTDD Best Practices Project defines "best practice" as a service, function, or process that has been fine-tuned, improved and implemented to produce superior results that demonstrate impact/effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and collaboration/integration.”
Best Practice Criteria
The ASTDD Best Practices Project uses five criteria to help identify best practices in dental public health and gain a deeper understanding of the practices. The criteria are:
1.
Impact/Effectiveness
Impact/Effectiveness The practice has demonstrated impact, applicability, and benefits to the oral health care and well-being of certain populations or communities with reference to scientific evidence and/or documented outcomes of the practice.
2.
Efficiency
The practice has demonstrated cost and resource efficiency where expenses are appropriate to benefits. This includes staffing and time requirements that are realistic and reasonable.
3.
Demonstrated Sustainability
The practice shows sustainable benefits and/or is sustainable within populations/communities and between states/territories.
4.
Collaboration/Integration
The practice builds effective partnerships among various organizations and integrates oral health with other health projects and issues.
5.
Objectives/Rationale
The practice addresses Healthy People 2010 objectives, responds to the Surgeon
General's Report on Oral Health, and/or builds basic infrastructure and capacity for state/territorial/community oral health programs.
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)
ASTHO does not have a designated best practices program and therefore does not have standard definition or criteria. This organization is in the process of trying to determine whether promising practices can be identified passively by comparing state MCH indicators from various datasets.
CityMatCH
Programs are submitted from the field and evaluated by staff and external experts.
Criteria
Programs are evaluated on the following criteria: background, objective, methods, outcomes, barriers, public health impact.
Children’s Safety Network
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March of Dimes
March of Dimes has a Leading Practices Recognition Program. Leading Practices are defined as activities that demonstrate a positive impact on participants. These program activities- 1. Describe measurable results or progress toward meeting objectives (these can be process measures such as program participation, satisfaction, etc.) 2. Can serve as a model for possible replication by other chapters 3. Is an example of either an innovative program concept, or creativity in implementing an existing program 4.
Resulted in increased visibility for the March of Dimes and/or our role as an MCH leader.
Criteria
To be selected as a program leading practice, an entry must describe a specific and measurable impact on: 1) knowledge, awareness, or health behaviors of program participants, or 2) improving birth outcomes for a specific population.
National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
A Model practice is an initiative, program, resource, administrative practice, or tool that demonstrates exemplary or replicable qualities in response to a local public health need. Model Practices cut across all areas of public health, including infectious disease, emergency preparedness, community health, environmental health, and infrastructure. A Promising practice exhibits the potential to become a
Model practice.
Criteria
A model practice meets the following criteria: local health department role, collaboration, innovation, responsiveness, and evaluation.
A promising practice meets the following criteria: local health department role, collaboration, innovation, responsiveness, as well as come qualitative and quantitative evidence that the practice improves health outcomes.
National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD)
NACDD has not yet completed the Best Practice Project, but for now, a best practice would be would be defined as: “a technique or methodology that, through experience and research, has proven to reliably lead to a desired result”
Criteria
1. Have results been published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, or reviewed by an expert panel?
2. Are the outcomes measurable, achievable, and of public health significance?
3. Has the intervention been successfully implemented in populations other than the original study population and is it transferable to other setting, sectors, or populations?
4. What partnerships, tools or resources are identified for implementation?
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National Governors Association (NGA)
As an organization, we have not defined “Best or Model Practice”. If we provide information, on an emerging practice however, we do try to distinguish as a “promising” practice.
The NGA Center evaluates public policy innovations and ensures that all governors are aware of these advances by:
• Publishing research reports, policy analyses, issue briefs, and a variety of other materials on timely issues;
• Hosting policy workshops, seminars, academies, and cross-state learning labs across the country;
• Issuing challenge grants to states to build pioneering policy agendas or improve existing policies by implementing identified best practices.
State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association (STIPDA)
Innovative Initiative described as a unique and creative program or activity that has the potential to substantially decrease injuries and violence in the communities that they serve
Criteria
Submissions are evaluated by innovative characteristics, significance of barriers overcome, and the public health impact of the program. Members then vote on their favorite submission to select the winner.
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