Los Angeles, California, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) August 7, 2011 --Year after year, statistics show the health and wellness of African American men is in a state of crisis. Award winning filmmaker and acclaimed health and fitness expert Angela de Joseph is excited to launch a documentary series that can turn the tide around. The three-part, half-hour series, “State of Emergency: Tackling Black Men’s Health” will feature medical experts sharing life-saving knowledge and insight, and give voice to Black men who survived preventable health emergencies and reveal valuable lessons learned.
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention recently reported some pretty bleak health statistics on African American men: 39% have hypertension; 37% are obese; 30% are more likely to die from heart disease; 14.7% have diabetes; there is a 59% higher incidence of prostate cancer; 65% of new HIV infections occur in black men.
Shocking statistics notwithstanding, de Joseph, a former ESSENCE Magazine editor and ABC Television talk show expert, maintains “God put this project on my heart.” She was moved to action upon realizing that Black men, more than any other ethnic group, have a higher incidence of treatable diseases and are more likely to suffer severe effects and die for need of care. Accessibility and affordability also weigh heavily in this equation.
“The most serious obstacle to Black men maintaining good health is their reluctance to seek medical attention until the latter stages of disease,” de Joseph laments. “I wanted to make a film that would bring this topic into the open and address not only why Black men won’t go to the doctor but how we can change this behavior.”De Joseph was given some of her answers by the men themselves. “Almost every man interviewed expressed the belief that he could fix his health problems on his own, or harbored some form of mistrust of the medical profession.”
Within the video frames of “State of Emergency,” noted author and founder of the Minority Health Institute and Association of Black Cardiologists, Dr. Richard Allen Williams, M.D., weighs in on the “why” of Black men’s’ reluctance to see a doctor for what ails them. “Black men have more than one legitimate reason for not trusting the medical profession….But let’s start with just one reason. It’s called the Tuskegee Study.”
“State of Emergency: Tackling Black Men’s Health” drills down deep into the multi-layered reasons and inherent challenges that create the healthcare inequities minorities face in finding and receiving quality health care. While changing attitudes and modifying behavior is necessary; access to honest, quality, affordable medical care is also vital to improving the status of Black men’s health.
One of the nation’s leading experts on health disparities, Dr. Williams leads the discussion on unraveling the controversial implications of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act HR 3590 (aka “Obama Care”), which was signed into law March 2010. Dr. Williams’ most recent book “Healthcare Disparities at the Crossroads with Healthcare Reform,” focuses on eliminating disparities through targeted efforts made within the context of reform.
Dr. Williams offers insightful observations on how PPACA will impact minorities. “It is going to open the door to African Americans and other minorities to access to medical care, the likes of which they haven’t experienced before. It’s something that absolutely ensures that poor people who can’t pay for their own insurance do have coverage and are finally able to access quality medical care.”
The first installment of the series will be “State of Emergency: Tackling Black Men’s Health—Cardiovascular Disease,” and will premier this September. The extensively documented extremely high incidence of heart disease among Black men warranted the first episode being devoted to cardiovascular health, and being premiered among a major gathering of Black men. The aim is to provide information and tips on how to effectively manage, treat and, more importantly, avoid the occurrence of this preventable health condition.
Dr. Rashaye Freeman, a diabetes educator with the Veteran's Administration and American Diabetes Association (ADA) spokesperson, shares her keen insight into a medical perspective on Black men coping with hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes, which she says are frequently grouped together. “Individuals who have diabetes are at least twice as likely to have a cardiovascular disease (CVD) than someone without diabetes. Uncontrolled blood pressure, high cholesterol, and elevated blood sugar greatly increases chances that an individual will experience a heart attack or stroke."
Currently the series is in production, with hours of footage already logged. Much of the footage gives voice to the Black men who have survived a serious preventable illness and lived to tell their story of triumph and continued devotion to preventive healthcare. Among them are Rudy Melson, heart attack survivor; Keith Mott and Rufus Dorsey, diabetics; James Bird, high cholesterol; and James Reynolds, prostate cancer survivor.
Part two and three of the series will focus on prostate cancer and HIV. “State of Emergency: Tackling Black Men’s Health” is the cornerstone of a Men’s Wellness Project devoted to transforming the behavior of Black men. The primary, secondary and tertiary goal of “State of Emergency: Tackling Black Men’s Health” is to be a cultural change agent that moves black men to go to the doctor, get tested and screened, and increase their chances to see their grandchildren grow up.
“State of Emergency” has been embraced by the health care community and is receiving support from organizations such as the American Diabetes Association and the Minority Health Institute. In addition, the National Medical Association (NMA), the nation's oldest and largest association of African American Physicians, has provided access to their members in various disciplines of medicine. The first half-hour episode will be screened this fall and the feature length film will be in released in 2012.
For information on “State of Emergency: Tackling Black Men’s Health,” go to the Global Wellness Project website at www.globalwellnessproject.org. The company is looking for volunteers and in-kind donations. Funds maybe sent online via Paypal.com to donations@globalwellnessproject.org.
Media inquiries: 866-311-4247; info@globalwellnessproject.org
ABOUT ANGELA DE JOSEPH: Angela de Joseph’s first documentary, “Making Lives Over,” was nominated for an Emmy Award. Her debut film, “It’s In The Bag,” won several awards and aired on Showtime. She has been working in the non-profit sector for the past four years as a health advocate of the uninsured population of Los Angeles, providing fitness and nutrition education and free health screenings to the public. She is also the author of a weight loss book, “Angela de Joseph’s Body-Blast.” This year de Joseph founded the Global Wellness Project, a non-profit media company that is producing a series of health and wellness documentaries.
ABOUT DR. RASHAYE FREEMAN: Dr. Rashaye Freeman, PHD, MSN, DNP FNP-BC, ADM-BD, CDE, manages the Diabetes Education program for Greater Los Angeles Veteran’s Administration health care system, and is the American Diabetes Association (ADA) spokesperson. Nursing Professor at California State University at Los Angeles.
ABOUT DR. RICHARD A. WILLIAMS: Dr. Williams is the Founding President and CEO of The Minority Health Institute, Inc.; a board-certified cardiologist and the Founding President of the Association of Black Cardiologists. In addition, earlier in his medical career, Dr. Williams founded the Central Recruitment Council of Boston Hospitals. He is the author of “The Textbook of Black-Related Diseases,” McGraw-Hill, 1975, which sits on the shelves of libraries and medical schools around the world, as well as “The Athlete and Heart Disease: Diagnosis, Evaluation and Management” and “Humane Medicine: A New Paradigm in Medical Education and Health Care Delivery,” Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1999, among several other highly regarded instructive medical texts.
ABOUT THE GLOBAL WELLNESS PROJECT: “State of Emergency: Tackling Black Men’s Health” is the inaugural documentary of The Global Wellness Project, a health promotion and literacy program designed to educate, motivate and transform health behavior patterns. More information can be found online at http://www.globalwellnessproject.org
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