Growing up in the neighborhood where he now serves the residents gives Lateef Khursheed a special feeling for his work. He’s seen the difference one person can make when he really cares about the people around him.
Khursheed, who holds a master’s degree in community health, has worked for 10 years at the 48th Street Physicians’ Office, a
Peninsula Institute for Community Health clinic (PICH), in the Southeast community of Newport News. PICH is a grant-funded organization that serves the uninsured, underinsured, and accepts insurances as well.
In addition to performing community outreach for churches, schools, social groups and recreation centers to teach men, women and children about health, Khursheed counsels patients one-on-one about chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and depression. He teaches nutrition classes, helps overweight people get back in shape and teaches smoking cessation.
“I want to make people feel comfortable so they can communicate,” Khursheed says. “This is the beautiful thing about this job. I try to be attentive and help patients understand their diseases, because knowledge is empowerment.”
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"I try to be attentive and help patients understand their diseases, because knowledge is empowerment.” -- Lateef Khursheed |
One of the important tasks of Khursheed’s job is setting up the clinic’s annual health screening on the last weekend in April. The mayors of Hampton and Newport News have declared April “Cancer Awareness Month” to emphasize the free program, which Sentara has been supporting with volunteers, supplies, lab testing and marketing for 10 years.
The program provides free cancer screenings including prostate, cervical, breast, oral, throat, glands of the neck, dental and skin.
Last year, 133 people were screened in April. “But it’s not about numbers, it’s about quality,” Khursheed says. “If a person we screen finds they have cancer, it gives us the opportunity to develop a treatment strategy during the earliest stages. Detection is the key.”
With Sentara’s help, he is improving the lives of the community’s most vulnerable citizens.