Colorado Culture Change Coalition

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Colorado Culture Change Coalition

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The Colorado Culture Change Coalition (CCCC) seeks to elevate elderhood while thriving in home and community.

The Colorado Culture Change Coalition (CCCC) is a community of people dedicated to changing the culture of care provision in our current healthcare care environments. We work with individuals and organizations to implement person-centered models of care across the care continuum.

10/05/2026

"A Home of Respect" is a poem written by several nursing home staff members participating in the Live Oak Regenerative Community grant to develop community meetings in nursing homes. Everyone's voice is present in the poem. This was their sense, at the time, about living in a care community. Respect surfaced as one of the most important values.

Barry Barkan, a champion of the regenerative community and community meetings, and one of our CCCC Board members, Beth Irtz, were leaders for this grant.

09/21/2026

We're so excited to be at the Colorado Health Care Association Fall Convention this week! Come visit our booth ( #49) and meet our board members! Plus, see our very own Beth Irtz present in the session "Mother-Daughter Stories on Person Directed Discharge Planning" on Wed, Sept 23 at 1:30pm.

09/14/2026

“Creating Connection: Learning Circle Stories” by Ruth Minnema

"What's your favorite snack?" That was the opening question in our Learning Circle at VI Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing. Potato chips and chocolate were clear favorites. Recently, Caitlin Phillips, MSW (CCCC Elder Engagement Chair) and Ruth Minnema, RN, MA (current CCCC Board Member) facilitated a learning circle with Sonya and Roberta (pictured).

The next question: "Tell us about a meaningful meal in your life."

We weren’t talking about food anymore. We heard the story of a lobster dinner that included a marriage proposal. Guess what? Her favorite meal is lobster! Another participant recalled elegant meals aboard the Queen Mary during a transatlantic crossing.

Our final question was: "Where did you grow up?" Again, the stories came alive.

We met the Hatch Chili Queen from Hatch, New Mexico. We heard about growing up in New York City. Then we landed on a farm near Callaway, Nebraska, where an adventurous teenager decided to take his father's crop-duster airplane for a spin.

Three simple questions with different types of answers. The first gave us factual answers. The second and third described experiences that defined the person answering the question.

That is the magic of a Learning Circle. We don’t just learn about people; by listening to their stories, we learn who they are. The process is simple, but simple isn’t always easy.

Thank you Sonya & Roberta from VI.

The Colorado Culture Change Coalition supports assisted living and long-term care communities by doing Learning Circles with care partners and elders to experience the process. If your community is interested in learning more about this process, please message us here or email us at [email protected].

09/10/2026

We’re still thinking about the conference and all of the beautiful, small details. These bouquets were all handmade by Elders who live at Mapleton Post Acute in Denver, Colorado. They are made from coffee filters, then dyed and attached to velvet pipe cleaners. They delivered 30 vases of these to use as centerpieces for the ballroom. They were so appreciated and enjoyed by all. Thank you Mapleton Post Acute!

08/13/2026

CCCC Board Members attend AgingIN Conference this week. We spread the word about the good work CCCC is doing at the Coalition Booth. Our acting president Claire Lucas and her band, Claire & the Blue J's, performed at the Welcome & W**e Down Reception. Beth Irtz co-presented an exciting workshop on Connected Communities.

07/02/2026

We are so excited that the 2026 AgingINnovation Conference is happening in Denver this year! We'll be there and hope to see many of you there!

This is a fabulous conference to attend and learn about people-first living. The agenda looks to be exciting with great presenters from around the country.

The conference runs from August 10-13. Find out more and get registered on the AgingIN website: https://aginginnovationconference.org/

06/26/2026

Meet our board! Claire Lucas, our acting President, has a long history working in long term care. She knew from a young age that she wanted to work with seniors. She was the kid who liked to hang out with her grandparents and hear their stories. She watched the impact it had on the family when her paternal grandmother started showing signs of dementia. This early childhood experience set in motion a desire to improve the quality of care for seniors. Claire got her masters in Gerontology at the University of Southern California. She went on to consult on some of the earliest Special Care Units for people living with Dementia. Her professional journey took her from consulting to Long Term Care administration to Hospice Care. Prior to retirement she worked for The Green House Project, supporting the de-institutionalization of nursing homes.

In early 2022, Claire retired from full-time employment and started exploring her natural musical talents. Performing for seniors represents the natural intersection of two of her passions, interacting and engaging with elders and singing. When she’s not gigging with her bandmates, Claire performs in retirement communities around Denver. Singing is transcendent for Claire. “When I’m singing Dad’s favorite jazz songs, I can almost feel him smiling down on me.”

Claire shares her home with her wonderful husband, James and her Dog (Bri) & Cat (Oly). She has two amazing daughters, Chelsea & Rochelle.

When not singing, Claire enjoys hiking, theatre, travel, scrapbooking and reading.

06/16/2026

Care Plan Stories: The Elder Voice Initiative

Care plans should tell a story—not just check a box.
This July, we’re excited to share Care Plan Stories: From Regulations to Relationships, a learning experience from The Eden Alternative® designed to transform how care plans are created and used.
Participants will learn how to:

✔ Move beyond compliance to meaningful, relationship-centered care
✔ Elevate the voices, preferences, and strengths of each person
✔ Turn care plans into living documents that guide daily practice
Because when care plans reflect real lives, everything changes.
👉 Learn more & register: https://bit.ly/48GileT

Reimagine care planning as a tool for connection, not just documentation.

05/08/2026

Creating environments where people feel safe, seen, and supported starts with understanding trauma.

This June, we’re partnering with The Eden Alternative® to offer Foundations of Trauma-Informed Care—an interactive learning experience designed for teams who want to strengthen trust, relationships, and well-being across their communities.
Participants will gain:
✔ Practical tools to recognize and respond to trauma
✔ Strategies to reduce re-traumatization
✔ Approaches that support both care partners and those receiving support
This is more than education—it’s a shift in how we show up for one another.
👉 Join us this June and take the next step toward truly person-directed support.
👉 https://bit.ly/48i6L9A

04/08/2026

Let's introduce our board member, Beth Irtz! 🌷

Beth loves the work of the coalition focused on Elderhood and how elders thrive. She has been on the CCCC Board for many years and was President previously. She is a retired Nursing Home Administrator and Director of Nursing and has been in many other roles in LTC. Beth is an Eden Educator with the Eden Alternative and presented on many topics related to person-directed living and culture change in Colorado and across the US. Her favorite role is that of Grandmother. Beth loves flowers, birdwatching, kayaking, reading, sewing and being in nature. She loves to tell stories about her work in eldercare. There are so many stories that we can learn from about choices, elders being heard, autonomy, identity, meaning and purpose and how these domains are how people live across the different stages of life. Loving elders and the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team has been her way for decades now. 🌷

Address

Denver, CO

Telephone

+13038684311

Website

https://www.coculturechange.org/, https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/newsletter-form/join-our-mailing-list-52

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