<p> Social workers in all care venues are increasingly responsible for clinical and case management services for people being treated with sophisticated medical interventions. Unfortunately, opportunities to aid in the promotion of quality of life (QOL), mental health, and informed consent are often not understood by social workers, other care providers, or patients. These missed opportunities may lead to attenuated effectiveness of medical interventions and negative impact on patients&rsquo; QOL. One such technological treatment is the implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), a lifesaving therapy which carries risk to patients&rsquo; QOL. Moreover, patients frequently do not accurately understand the benefits, limitations, and possible risks associated with ICD therapy. A small body of literature exists addressing experimental and demographic groups at risk of QOL decrements among the ICD patient population, including those who have been shocked more than five times, older adults, female patients, and those who have experienced a life threatening cardiac event. A much more limited body of literature addresses the quality of some forms of patient educational activities and materials. No research to date has attempted to characterize potential relationships between patient information acquisition, treatment knowledge, and QOL/mental health outcomes in this patient group. </p><p> Using a cross-sectional survey of ICD patients being treated at the University of Colorado Hospital (UCH), this dissertation project uses a social-ecological approach to describe the media through which ICD patients learn about device therapy, how well they understand their treatment, QOL and mental health outcomes, and any relationships between these constructs. The project was conducted in iterative phases, including the creation of two new measures assessing patient informational media history and ICD treatment knowledge, a pilot survey of 100 randomly selected patients to assess the quality of the new measures, and a larger survey of the remaining 655 potential ICD patient participants. </p><p> A total of 205 ICD patients responded to the survey, with a mean age of 60.7 years (sd=14.53), 34.1% of whom identified as female, 10.2% of whom are African American, and 37.5% of whom live in a household with an annual income of less than $40,000. Findings from survey responses revealed both the viability of the new informational media history and ICD treatment knowledge measures, as well as broad use of a number of specific forms of media to learn about treatment. Older adult patients illustrated significantly lower treatment knowledge and use of fewer forms of informational media than their younger counterparts. Multiple regression analyses revealed significant relationships between patient history of having been shocked, health related depression, and QOL, but failed to replicate earlier findings linking these problems to demographic indicators. Each of these findings highlight opportunities for improved social work research and practice with ICD patients, including the need for improved patient education processes for older adults with these devices, and the importance of mental health status, particularly depression, to patient QOL.</p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to develop a grant proposal seeking funds for the implementation of a youth-led nutrition and education program utilizing the development and maintenance of a community garden. The participants will be youth from low income and minority backgrounds in San Diego, California. The service partners of San Diego Youth Services TAY Academy will have the opportunity to participate in this community garden program to learn about healthy eating habits, the risks of obesity, and food desert communities. </p><p> Through a review of the literature on obesity, food deserts, and community gardens the writer proposed and designed a youth-led community garden program. The writer explored potential public and private funding sources, which yielded the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as a potential funding source. </p><p> The actual submission and/or funding of this grant proposal were not a requirement for the successful completion of this project.</p>