Presenters Vanessa da Silva, Margine Bawden, and Melody Thomas will share their experience implementing the Diabetes Prevention Program through the Cooperative Extension network in Arizona, focusing on the unique considerations required when bringing the program to Indian Country. Learn how they have addressed these challenges, including barriers to meeting CDC program guidelines, and how they plan to continue expanding Cooperative Extension’s partnership with local Arizona tribes to address the need for community-driven lifestyle change programs.
Margine Bawden, Med., joined the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension in 2011, and in 2021 she became the Area Assistant Agent for Family Consumer Science for Apache and Navajo County. Her primary program areas include the SNAP-Ed program in Apache and Navajo Counties, the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Sustainable Community Project to Promote Early Language and Literacy Development in Native Communities, the Retail & Consumer Food Safety Work Group, and she is currently working to offer the DPP to the White Mountain Apache community.
Vanessa da Silva, PhD, RDN, CDCES, is an Extension Specialist at the University of Arizona. She leads the implementation of the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension DPP, offered across the state in both English and Spanish. Dr. da Silva is a dietitian and certified diabetes care and education specialist, as well as a DPP Master Trainer and lifestyle coach. Arizona Extension achieved CDC full recognition for their in-person DPP in 2019 and full-plus for their remote program in 2022.
Melody Thomas is from the San Carlos Apache and works at the Gila County Extension office as an educator.
This webinar is hosted by the Enrichment Program of the Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Diabetes Translation Research.