She was also an Injury Prevention Specialist with the Indian Health Service for the Fort Defiance District (26 Navajo Nation Chapters or local governments) for 9 years before returning to GIS to improve and increase her skills with GIS. As an Injury Prevention Specialist she has learned community-based project management with very small budgets and implementing comprehensive projects with evaluation and measures. She learned to “sell” her program as she was the only role in advocating for Injury Prevention to a sea of Environmental Health Specialists, community leaders, Injury Prevention stakeholders, and upper management. Indian Health Service provided many trainings and experiences in all aspects of a community-based injury prevention program. Of her many successful projects at the Fort Defiance District, she has facilitated injury prevention coalition meetings, implemented evaluations of fall prevention, passenger safety, and outreach activities, implemented surveys of passenger safety use, provided technical assistance in the passing of an updated Navajo Nation child passenger law, and maintained the severe injury data surveillance database. She has collaborated with various programs to partner in injury prevention efforts and leverage resources for under-funded objectives.

She is excited to work in the field of epidemiology as her interest grew after taking graduate courses at the University of Michigan in Epidemiology during an Injury Prevention Fellowship program.

Delores Becenti, Senior Programs and Projects Specialist for the Navajo Epidemiology Center.

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Elderly Fall Prevention

The Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council, Epidemiology Center (RMTEC) has been working with the IHS Billings Area Office to implement an evidence-based program entitled A Matter of Balance, as a part of Elderly Fall Prevention.

 

A Matter of Balance program includes both an education and exercise component and is designed to reduce the fear of falling and increase the activity levels of older adults who have concerns about falls.

 

In November 2018, an employee from each office attended a training to become A Matter of Balance Master Trainers. As Master Trainers, their role is to train volunteer coaches in the Tribal communities, who will then go on to facilitate A Matter of Balance classes in their communities.

Recently, the Master Trainers held their first coach training, and six volunteers became certified as A Matter of Balance Coaches. These coaches plan to start their classes in late spring or early summer. The Master Trainers are excited to train more volunteers in the other Tribal communities and plan to have A Matter of Balance Coaches trained in each site by the end of summer 2019.

Kaylee Vandjelovic, Public Health Specialist at RMTEC and one of the Master Trainers, discussing A Matter of Balance program during the coach training.

The six new volunteer coaches with the Master Trainers, after completing the two-day training and earning their certificates.

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