Inspired by the surrounding mountains, creativity, and connections, Sopris Lodge at Carbondale offers Serenity Peaks – a resident-centered program in our Sanctuary neighborhood that supports and enriches the mind, body, and spirit of residents living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias. Serenity Peaks brings together specialized care, engaging activities, and person-centered support.
Even before someone joins our retirement community, team members begin learning their life history. Once someone moves in, our specially trained dementia-care experts begin building an individual resident profile called “The Story of Me.” This approach is rooted in the belief that our past shapes who we are today and thoughtfully considers each person’s culture, beliefs, traditions, and family dynamics.
By gathering these details, we gain a deeper understanding of how Sopris Lodge can provide a soothing, engaging, and meaningful experience in the Sanctuary memory care neighborhood. Residents are supported as individuals, with options and flexibility, from how they choose to spend their day to the level of services they need. Guided by The Story of Me, team members focus on each resident’s abilities rather than limitations.
The Story of Me serves as a guide to understanding each resident’s background, interests, and preferences. Using this insight, team members introduce reminiscence therapy activities that engage the five senses.
One example is our bi-monthly Armchair Travel sessions. As residents explore and learn about different countries, they may recall past travel adventures or meaningful memories from earlier in their lives. We also pair documentary viewings and National Geographic specials with themed food and drinks from that region.
The Serenity Peaks dementia-care program follows a person-centric approach that enhances residents’ quality of life by drawing from several respected memory care philosophies. One influence is the Montessori approach, which emphasizes a supportive environment, valuing and validating residents, engaging in their senses, and encouraging connection through long-term memories.
For example, aroma-based activities are incorporated into daily life, such as scent matchups, smelling seasonal fragrances, using essential oils, or organizing recipes by scent. These activities often resonate with residents who enjoy cooking or baking or who were homemakers, as the familiar scents are deeply connected to their routines and memories, providing a sense of comfort.
Each resident’s life history also helps guide their food preferences, including likes and dislikes. When we learn that a resident really enjoys sweets or baking, we incorporate food-based activities that reflect those interests. Recently, our team created a hot chocolate bar with a variety of toppings, including sprinkles, marshmallows, peppermints, and extra chocolate. Residents who prefer not to eat sweets were still invited to participate and offered alternative beverages, ensuring everyone could be included.
The Sanctuary memory care team is trained to use prompts, photos, music, and other memorabilia to facilitate recall that stimulates positive memories and boosts residents’ mood and cognition. By engaging all five senses — sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound — we help individuals living with memory loss remember events, people, and places from their past lives.
We also offer a variety of Play to Remember-based games. Developed by Phyllis Campbell, these activities include sorting objects by color, purpose, or similarity, as well as using recall abilities to finish a painting or drawing inspired by personal memories or photographs. Residents may also sort postcards by region, weather, or the appearance of the postcard.
The goal of these one-on-one activities is to spark conversation and encourage residents to share personal experiences, creating comfort, connection, and a sense of purpose through familiar and enjoyable activities.
Music-based activities are among the most popular offerings at the Sopris Sanctuary, as music is a powerful prompt for generating positive memories. These activities range from watching classical performances or concerts, playing musical instruments such as the maracas, shakers, or the piano, listening to favorite genres like Elvis, singing along, or attending live performances at the community. By engaging residents through music they love, we create opportunities for them to sing, dance, connect with others, and express themselves in a joyful, meaningful way.
Memories in the Making® taps into the creative roots of our retirement community and Carbondale’s thriving art scene. Certified team members guide residents to participate in this art-based program. Through dementia education, we focus on improving cognitive function, enhancing quality of life, and bringing joy through the creative artistic process.
Through the Sopris Sanctuary’s craft activities, residents can engage with the materials by choosing their own paint colors, collage materials, or beads for their jewelry. Each activity is also designed to prompt reminiscence. Residents may recall a time when they experienced the scenery they are painting or coloring, wore a similar piece of jewelry, created cards for loved ones, or reflected on what a seasonal craft means to them.
In addition to guided activities, residents have access to different sensory boards, books, magazines, newspapers, coloring supplies, puzzles, snacks, and drinks. The Sensory Room and an enclosed courtyard are also available, offering calm, tranquil spaces for residents to explore at their own pace, listen to white noise, or watch people and pets stroll by the window. The sensory room is also a great place for residents to gather with family members outside of their apartment.
Sopris Lodge provides individualized care plans for residents, developed in partnership with families and caregivers. To support residents with medical needs, the community facilitates access to speech, occupational, and physical therapies. Additionally, we help coordinate meditation, aromatherapy, and massage services. Residents can also participate in chair yoga, Tai Chi, dancing, and stretching activities to support strength, balance, and overall well-being.
Within the Sanctuary neighborhood, residents living with memory loss enjoy private residences that connect comfortably to a dining room, activity spaces, gardens, and other common areas. The Sanctuary neighborhood features a secure building and surrounding grounds designed specifically for memory care.
Private residences are thoughtfully designed to encourage safe, independent navigation, with abundant natural light, warm colors, and artwork that reduces anxiety and creates a calming environment.
If you would like to speak with our memory care team about the Sanctuary neighborhood and the Serenity Peaks program, our experts are a resource to assist you. Please give them a call at 970-678-0057. Sopris Lodge at Carbondale Senior Living offers older adults and their families an intimate setting in a quaint Rocky Mountain town, and our Serenity Peaks memory care program highlights all that is possible for individuals living with Alzheimer’s and other memory loss conditions.
