The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey is a large household survey that covers many health and health behavior topics.  The national BRFSS program is managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  There are 54 BRFSS programs (all 50 states and 4 territories) in operation nationally, which collect BRFSS survey data each year.

Examples of BRFSS topics include:  access to healthcare, quality of life, quality of healthcare, smoking, alcohol consumption, domestic violence, seatbelt/car seat use, physical activity, nutrition, anxiety and depression, mental illness and stigma, and many more topics that can be included.   Thus, it is potentially a very powerful source of relevant and timely health and health behavior information.  A Navajo BRFSS survey would yield an impressive amount of important information that the Navajo Nation and the Navajo Nation Division of Health (NNDOH) could utilize for many purposes, because it would identify the current and relevant health needs, concerns and issues of the Navajo people.  Such information can be used to set health priorities for the Division of Health and/or the Navajo Nation, provide baseline health information that could be monitored over time (should the survey be done again or on a regular basis) and provide reliable and valid Navajo-specific information on many important health topics.  Such information could also be effectively used in reports, grant applications and presentations to educate the community, Navajo representatives, collaborators, partners, funding sources, and others about the health issues and needs of the Navajo people.  The Navajo BRFSS Core Group and Navajo BRFSS Steering Committee see many important reasons to conduct a Navajo BRFSS Survey.

The Navajo BRFSS Core Group, which consists of several NNDOH program directors and Navajo Area Indian Health Service (NAIHS) program directors, has developed a framework in which to plan and prepare for a Navajo BRFSS Survey.  This Core Group has also recruited a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary Navajo BRFSS Steering Committee, which meets quarterly.  The Steering Committee members include:  BRFSS coordinators from AZ, NM and UT; a number of NNDOH program directors and staff; tribal liaisons from AZ, NM and UT;  academic partners (from Diné College and the College of Public Health at The University of Arizona), Navajo cultural experts; and staff from Navajo Area IHS programs.

The Steering Committee recently formed three important workgroups,  which will work on key elements of the project, including:  survey methodology, a project budget, the questionnaire itself, and community strategies to enlist community and Navajo Nation Human Research Review Board (Navajo IRB) support for the survey.

Additional workgroups to be formed as the Navajo BRFSS process advances will address funding strategies to support the project, questionnaire translation, and community interpretation of the data to be collected.  These workgroups will ensure that the Navajo BRFSS Survey is conducted properly and includes important behavioral health topics and questions that are relevant to the Navajo people.

Please click on the link below to complete our brief survey on potential modules to include in the Navajo BRFSS.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8JBBSTV

The survey will close January 30, 2010.  Please feel free to forward to anyone you think might be interested in completing this survey.

For additional information, please contact: