REACHE and MSFit Programs
What is REACHE?
The "REACHE" (Rams Employment and Community Health Equity) outpatient therapy clinic, sponsored by WSSU School of Health Sciences, provides compassionate, evidence-based occupational and physical therapy services for individuals across the lifespan, from children to older adults. The clinic focuses on promoting health, wellness, independence, mobility, and participation in meaningful daily activities at home, school, work, and within the community. Through individualized treatment plans, therapeutic exercise, and functional training, REACHE supports patients with a wide range of diagnoses and abilities, emphasizing strength, endurance, balance, coordination, fall prevention, and overall functional performance. As a pro bono clinic, REACHE is committed to helping individuals of all ages and abilities reach their fullest potential through personalized, high-quality care. The REACHE community clinic is also home to other programs including MSFit.
About the MSFit Program
MSFit started in 2015 by Brian Murrell and his mother, Patsy, as a way of providing community resources to people living with Multiple Sclerosis. They began the MSFit Foundation to help fund gym memberships. Now, over 10 years later, the MSFit clinic is housed within the REACHE community clinic located at the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness. The WSSU School of Health Sciences would like to recognize the Murrell family for their dedication to helping improve the quality of life for individuals living with MS. While the MSFit Foundation is no longer active, the clinic continues to thrive and welcomes people living with MS as well as other neurologic diagnoses.
Current services provided at the MSFit clinic include Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy, and are free of charge to participants. The clinic meets weekly on Monday afternoons, and is staffed by faculty from the Winston-Salem State University Departments of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy alongside WSSU DPT and MSOT graduate students who gain hands-on clinical experience with this neurologic adult population.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common disabling neurological disease of young adults in the U.S. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. Multiple Sclerosis affects more than 2.5 million people worldwide. People living with MS that lack physical activity may experience an increased risk of depression, poor balance, fatigue, and secondary diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Studies show that exercise not only improves overall health and well-being, but can also help to manage and reduce many MS symptoms.
