Our Programs

Mental & Behavioral Health: Pain Rehab Program | Chronic Disease/Preventative Healthcare: lemson Health Extension Hypertension Education, Clemson Health Extension Diabetes Education, MUSC CARES Clinic Health Fairs & Food Security | Women & Children's Health: Clemson Health Extension: Breastfeeding Education, Boeing Center for Children’s Wellness & Clemson Health Extension: School Wellness Checklist, Mother’s Milk Bank + Clemson Health Extension: Milk Depots | Cancer Prevention: Hollings Cancer Center HPV Vaccination Unit, Hollings Cancer Center + Clemson Rural Health Mammography and Cervical Screening Unit

The Rural Health Extension Program Team offers scientifically supported initiatives and programs to help all South Carolinians prevent and self-manage chronic disease. We do this through community partnerships, group and individual education sessions, and a library of written resources on topics from healthy eating to stress relief (for written information and factsheets visit HGIC).

Program Offerings:

Hypertension Management Program 

National Diabetes Prevention Program 

Health Extension for Diabetes

Breastfeeding 101 Classes

Know Diabetes By Heart 

COVID-19 Community Testing

For more information, visit Clemson Cooperative Extension.

The MUSC C.A.R.E.S. St. Stephen Rural Outreach Initiative began in 2018. Partnering with the Berkeley County School District and the Lowcountry Food Bank, it provides free medical screenings, preventive care, including seasonal and recommended vaccines, and distribution of fresh produce to the local underserved and uninsured population. The outreach initiative has grown to include pediatric care, such as school-mandated vaccines and vision screenings, as well as facilitated referrals to free or low-cost chronic disease management programs including the YMCA Hypertension Management Program and Diabetes Prevention Program. The CARES St. Stephen Rural Outreach model is the foundation of HMHSC'S Rural Health Clinics initiative.

MUSC CARES St. Stephen Clinic

HMHSC Rural Health Clinics kicked off in 2021 with pilot clinics in Kingstree and Blackville. The program is set to expand over the next five years. Ten clinics are tentatively scheduled within the next year across the state. As the clinic sponsor, MUSC and Clemson University Health Extension work together as Healthy Me-Healthy SC, partnering with locally-based community organizations that know their communities best. In recognizing the multiple and often complicated barriers to care that many rural and underserved communities face, the overarching goal of the HMHSC Rural Clinics is to bring healthcare resources (including health-related social needs) directly to communities as a form of mobile care, complementing the traditional, centralized format of health care delivery. Through strong local collaborations, including direct input at all planning stages, we are able to provide routine community-centered clinics that address health from a broad perspective. While specific participating groups change based on location, offerings include:

  • chronic disease screenings, including hypertension and diabetes
  • preventive care including nutrition counselling, vaccines, and breast cancer screening
  • connection to food security resources (either through Foodshare or a local Food Bank)
  • facilitating connection to primary care for both insured and uninsured individuals
  • highlighting local community resources addressing major social determinants of health including financial stability, education, housing, and parenting resources
  • regional resources including or similar in scope to Clemson University Health Extension, Access Health, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, and Trident United Way

MUSC Health CARES Medical Clinic

The CARES Clinic model is also utilized as the infrastructure for HMHSC'S Rural Health Clinics Initiative. At these Rural Health Clinics/Health Fairs, chronic disease screenings are offered, connectivity to food security resources (either through Foodshare or a local Food Bank), and connectivity to Primary Care and other Community Resources. Health Fairs kicked off in Blackville, SC on October 9, 2021.

The next rural health clinic is scheduled for September 24, 2022 at Amazing Grace Park in Marion, SC.

Contact

ramsetty@musc.edu

This mobile unit improves access to HPV vaccinations and delivers evidence-based HPV vaccination education, with focus on medically underserved areas as well as elementary, middle, high schools and colleges. So far, there have been sites conducted in Blackville and North Myrtle Beach, with upcoming sites in Gaffney, Blacksburg, and Lexington county.

The mobile unit also focuses on:

  • Partnerships with pediatric, primary care, and family medicine clinics in primarily rural areas of SC
  • Facilitating referrals to community-based programs and service providers to address needs for early detection and cancer control behaviors

MUSC Hollings Cancer Center launched its state-of-the-art Mobile Health Unit in 2022 to continue its mission to provide cancer screening and education services to communities designated as the most medically underserved in South Carolina.

The Mobile Health Unit provides breast, cervical and skin cancer screenings.

Hollings has provided this service for more than 20 years, partnering with Federally Qualified Health Centers, churches, community centers, and employers. The Mobile Health Unit travels to destinations in 31 counties across the state.

The new unit features 3D tomosynthesis mammography equipment that provides the latest in imaging technology. Improved imaging can be especially important for women at high risk of breast cancer and those women who have dense breast tissue, which can make detecting breast cancer early on more difficult.

In partnership with South Carolina's Best Chance Network, Hollings’ Mobile Health Unit is one of the state’s largest providers for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Best Chance Network, providing services to uninsured and underinsured women meeting specific eligibility criteria. Health professionals on board the Mobile Health Unit provide targeted, evidenced-based educational resources about cancer prevention and awareness, including tobacco cessation counseling and referral for those patients who are interested. 

Appointments are required for patients of the Mobile Health Unit. In order to schedule the unit, you must have a minimum of 20 confirmed patients. Those interested in booking the Mobile Health Unit should call 843-792-0878 or send an email to hccoutreachservices@musc.edu.

Hollings Cancer Center Mobile Health Outreach

The Mother’s Milk Bank promotes the health of South Carolina babies by providing access to safe, pasteurized donor human milk. SC breastfeeding mothers with surplus milk supply are invited to become MMBSC milk donors to provide pasteurized milk to SC infants for whom mother’s milk supply is limited. The milk bank initially will provide milk to all SC hospitalized very low birth weight infants. The MMBSC is an accredited milk bank by the Human Milk Banking Association of North America.

Mother's Milk Bank

Contact

marli@musc.edu

The MUSC BCCW engages school communities in creating healthy learning environments through the implementation of targeted evidence-based wellness initiatives. It focuses on healthy food, physical activity, social-emotional development and improved physical and built environments. Clemson Health Extension agents serve as local coordinators and provide trainings and assistance. In 2020, HMHSC had 20 schools involved across three counties and cultivated 16 school gardens.

Boeing Center for Children's Wellness

Contact

boeingcenter@musc.edu
843-876-2039

South Carolina’s only comprehensive chronic pain rehabilitation program, MUSC’s Pain Rehab Program, is a tested, evidence-based model that restores function and quality of life for people whose chronic pain is negatively affecting their mood and overall health. It is a three-week program that runs in person Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and includes physical therapy, occupational therapy, medication management, opioid reduction, cognitive behavioral therapy. There is also a virtual option offered in which patients attend a 1/2-day group-based program, M-F, for 3 weeks via Telehealth. Its goals are to help participants:

  • Resume leisure, recreational, volunteer, and work activities
  • Increase physical strength, stamina, and flexibility
  • Learn stress management and relaxation techniques
  • Improve interpersonal relationships
  • Reduce or eliminate use of pain medications Improve ability to self-manage chronic pain, reducing reliance on health care professionals

The team received the Innovative Models for Integrated Care Award from The Association of Medicine and Psychiatry (AMP). AMP launched this award in 2016 after recognizing the unmet need to disseminate innovative and successful models of integrated care. Programs that win this award are evaluated on clinical importance, effectiveness, innovation, and generalizability.

Contact

kimballl@musc.edu or millet@musc.edu

MUSC Health Pain Rehabilitation Program

The Tele-PCIT Program was selected as the recipient of HMHSC’s inaugural Innovation Grant, and are currently in their pilot phase. Caregivers of children aged 2-6 years with a developmental diagnosis (ADHD, developmental delay, suspected autism, speech delay, etc) are invited to participate in a research study for Parent-Child interaction Therapy (PCIT) via telehealth. Therapy is free and families will be paid for their time. 

PCIT is a therapy with over 30 years of research support for young children who are experiencing behavioral challenges. 

PCIT therapists virtually coach caregivers on strategies while they play and interact with their child at home through a Bluetooth microphone 

For more information fill out an interest form or reach us at autismreasearch@musc.edu or 843-714-1352.