The Navajo Nation is experiencing public health problems that are unique because of its particular developmental history, and its cultural and environmental setting. As the sole institution of higher education of the Navajo Nation, an area the size of some states, Navajo Community College is uniquely situated to provide technical expertise toward addressing these problems. The official mission of the College includes research to serve the community needs, and developing indigenous talent among Navajo college students in the resolution of those problems. The MBRS Program at this College proposes to continue to focus faculty and student research activities toward pressing public health concerns facing the Navajo Nation. The research project being proposed concerns diabetes, which is an increasingly serious health problem for the Navajo. Diabetes management by patients and their physicians requires careful attention to cultural and behavioral aspects of lifestyles that call for local research. The project at the Shiprock Campus will study the barriers Navajo patients face in obtaining care and to successfully participating in behavioral interventions. This project is designed to answer important questions in Navajo public health, to centrally involve faculty and students of Navajo Community College in such important research, and to collaborate meaningfully with biomedical researchers at regional universities and the Indian Health Service. With research projects adequately staffed, student researchers can join ongoing research efforts, discover the excitement of being part of a research team and make their contributions to the progress of the research.
