CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Makerspace aims to help young people with mental health challenges at facility on Pittsburgh's South Side

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - 11/13/2021

Nov. 13—Noelle Conover said she worries that all too often, children who suffer from serious mental health problems and the facilities helping them don't get as much attention, funding and resources as young people with other types of more visible ailments.

She recalls the many resources made available to her and her family while her young son was battling non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, from the outpouring of support to top-level care and amenities at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

"My son got sick with cancer, and when that happened, the community just rallied around us. It was unbelievable how they took care of our family," said Conover, executive director of Matt Maker's Space, the nonprofit she co-founded in honor of her son, Matt, who died at 12 in 2002.

"I'm not so sure that would have happened had my child been diagnosed with depression or anxiety," she said.

Conover's passion for assisting young children and teens with mental health issues is why Matt's Maker Space has targeted UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital's outpatient facility in Pittsburgh'sSouth Side to house its newest makerspace.

"It's the first one of its kind in a behavioral health setting, and we're very excited about that," Conover said. "We think it's extremely important, especially during these times, that mental health be treated in the same way that we treat overall health. There still is a stigma associated with mental health — especially in children — and it's our goal at Matt's Maker Space to get rid of that stigma."

The brightly lit, blue-walled cozy room is decked out with all kinds of tools and arts supplies, from high-tech options like a 3-D printer and green screen for digital productions, to low-key creating such as painting and crafting stations.

The space will be used for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) activities for adolescents who are struggling with mental health issues, including thoughts of suicide, self-harm and mood disorders.

"What we know about making is that it is a zone where kids can go and they can relax, they can make mistakes. They can create, they can collaborate," said Conover, whose nonprofit began by funding and helping guide the development of makerspaces at seven Mt. Lebanon schools. "These same things that they do in a maker's space in a school, they can now do in a mental health setting and be able to do those things for their therapeutic objectives."

Sarah Fallica, program director at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, said she was surprised that such options are not already more widely available in mental health settings. She's eager for young people to begin using the new space, which previously had served as a group therapy room.

About 40 young people ages 8 to 18 get treatment at the intensive outpatient program, including some who are getting follow-up treatment there after inpatient care at Western Psychiatric Hospital.

Fallica says the space aligns with the facility's treatment model, which includes individual and group therapy as well as "teaching patients to live in the moment and helps them develop healthy ways to cope with stress, regulate emotions and improve relationships with others."

"The use of maker activities will create an open space for patients and families to acknowledge how their emotions are impacting them, and shift towards healthier emotional regulation," Fallica said. "We believe this is a great fit, as it's a safe space where mistakes are allowed, and getting messy is part of the process."

The new space at the South Side mental health facility marks the 28th maker's space that the nonprofit has opened in the Pittsburgh area, with plans for more in the works. The first hospital to get a Matt's Maker Space was UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in Lawrenceville.

By March or April, a maker's center is set to open inside Western Psychiatric Hospital's main campus in the city's Oakland neighborhood.

Natasha Lindstrom is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Natasha at 412-380-8514, nlindstrom@triblive.com or via Twitter .

___

(c)2021 The Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.)

Visit The Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.) at www.triblive.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.