During her social work practicum at Frazee Care Center in Frazee Minnesota Carmen was given the opportunity to also lead activities. Carmen fell in love with providing meaningful activities for persons living in nursing homes. She first worked as an activity assistant and then an activity director in Colorado.
Carmen was the first certified activity professional to be a surveyor. She was a Colorado state surveyor for nine years, and was invited to serve on the four year CMS panel that developed the new 2006 interpretive guidance to the federal regulations regarding Activities and Qualified Activity Director. CMS Division of Nursing Homes invited her to present on a live satellite broadcast in 2000 Surveying Activities. This led to a job with then HCFA, now CMS - the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare. Carmen became a policy analyst with CMS Central Office in Baltimore where she taught the national Basic Surveyor Course. She also co-presented in the 2002 CMS satellite broadcast Quality of Life -The Pioneer Network.
She is now a consultant, trainer, author and owner of Edu-Catering: Catering Education for Compliance and Culture Change turning her former role of regulator into educator. She takes part in quarterly calls with CMS Division of Nursing Homes and the Pioneer Network.
Carmen serves on the Editorial board of Activities, Adaptations and Aging, taught the NCCAP MEPAP Activity Professional Training courses with Arapahoe Community College and provides activity consultation with a twist to encourage whole communities to move away from the traditional “activity programming” towards engaging residents with real life.
Carmen has a Master's degree in Healthcare Systems with an eldercare emphasis from Denver University, a Bachelor's in Social Work from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota.
Carmen as served as a contractor to CMS on several culture change projects. Carmen co-developed the Artifacts of Culture Change measurement tool which debuted in 2006. At the moment and under a grant with the Pioneer Network, she is co-developing an Artifacts 2.0 as well as Artifacts 2.0 - Assisted Living. She authored the background papers for and facilitated the national Creating Home symposiums sponsored by CMS and the Pioneer Network: Culture Change and the Environment in 2008 and Culture Change and Food and Dining in 2010. She facilitated the Pioneer Network Task Forces that developed the new Dining Practice Standards and subsequent Toolkit. She co-authored the white paper The Power of Language to Create Culture and facilitated the first Surplus Safety Symposium. She is a Certified Eden Associate and Eden Mentor, Certified Validation Worker, Group Practitioner and Presenter. She co-founded the Colorado Culture Change Coalition, and with Action Pact has authored eight culture change workbooks plus hosts a monthly web culture change talk show called Conversations with Carmen.
