New outreach program partners with Congressman Alcee L. HastingsNew outreach program partners with Congressman Alcee L. Hastings

The Westside Gazette September 1, 2010

The Diabetic Amputation Prevention (DAP) Foundation launched the Florida Initiative of the Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program (BBHOP) on Aug. 28, 2010. The program will provide free diabetes and high-blood pressure screenings to men and women at Black-owned barbershops and beauty salons throughout the surrounding communities of Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and eventually all across the United States.

More importantly, there will be onsite medical professionals that will provide educational materials regarding exercise, fitness, obesity, prostate and breast cancer, as well as a medical resource guide. Funding from various sources such as the National Institute of Health, Center for Disease Control, UCLA and additional foundations will pave the way for the program to travel throughout the country. Medical administrators hope to screen over 500,000 African American men for diabetes and high blood pressure by the year 2012.

Conceptually, the person behind this endeavor that ranks high on a list of importance within specific, targeted populations of African-American communities is Dr. Bill J. Releford, founder of the BBHOP.

Releford, is a graduate of the Temple University's School of Podiatric Medicine in Philadelphia, began his practice in 1990 and established the Diabetic Foot Institute, a facility dedicated exclusively to the reduction of diabetes-related amputations in high-risk populations. Dr. Releford is recognized both domestically and internationally as a leader in the field of diabetic limb salvage wound care.

Dr. Releford's limb salvage success and philosophy was formalized in the development of the Daniel Freeman Wound Care Center where platelet-derived growth factor therapy was used to facilitate healing of chronic wounds via angiogenesis.

This initiative, along with the collaboration and input of Congressman Alcee L. Hastings' exceptional leadership capabilities, reportedly, will "address the health care disparities among African-American men and women".

Toward this end, the primary goal of the event overall "is to empower African-American men and women to take control of their health and become health advocates in their communities through education and prevention."