What is a best practice? A best practice is: ___Measurable ___Notably successful ___Replicable ___A good fit for your circumstances Why promote the adoption and use of best practices? ___Using a recognized best practice makes it easier to justify the work. ___Using recognized best practices can bolster the credibility of an organization. ___Using best practices can make it easier to get funding. ___Using a best practice removes a lot of the guesswork from planning. ___The originators of the practice are known, and might be available to consult on how to best implement it. ___We know that best practices work. When should you promote the adoption and use of best practices? ___When a new intervention or program is starting up. ___When what’s being done isn’t working. ___When there’s a serious community problem that has to be tackled. ___When the community demands it. ___When funders or officials demand it. Who should be involved in promoting the adoption and use of best practices? ___Practitioners – health and human service workers, community developers, etc. ___Members of the population that will participate in or benefit from the best practices in question. ___Those who’ll be indirectly affected by the program. ___Interested community members. ___Local and, if appropriate, state officials. Where do you find best practices? ___On the Internet. ___By networking. ___In libraries. ___Through national advocacy and professional organizations and their journals. ___Through international, state, and federal agencies. ___Through foundations and other funders. ___In academia. ___Through community word of mouth. How do you promote the adoption and use of best practices? ___Define your issue, needs, and goals clearly, so that you can determine exactly what kind of best practice you’re seeking. ___Search for appropriate best practices. You promote the use and implementation of best practices by: ___Mobilizing community opinion. ___Alerting funders to best practice possibilities. ___Bringing some of the people who originated or who use appropriate practices together with people in your community. ___Suggesting that, rather than substituting a best practice for what it is already doing, an organization or group simply add it, or try it out. ___Ensuring that anyone involved in trying to replicate a best practice is provided with the training to make it successful. ___Providing those who’ll implement best practices with the necessary support and resources. ___Continuing to make the best better, and maintaining the community’s commitment to best practices.
