Capturing Essence for Care
Capturing Essence for Care
Podcast Description
Capturing Essence for Care focuses on the importance of incorporating personal life stories into health care and through each episode, Lisa invites guests and listeners to share their ideas and insights from their own experiences. We dive into various ways we can capture our own essence and have meaningful conversations about all types of storytelling methods, including through writing, video, voice, visuals and so much more! Join Lisa for solo episodes and interviews with diverse storytellers including personal historians, digital storytellers, guided autobiography instructors, healthcare practitioners among many others.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast delves into personal narratives, care transformations, and storytelling methodologies with specific episodes exploring topics like the impact of sharing life stories on dementia care and techniques for guided autobiography, emphasizing the exploratory nature of personal histories.
What if healthcare teams knew what lights you up?
Capturing Essence for Care celebrates the everyday moments, passions, and stories that make us who we are—right now, while we’re living fully.
This podcast explores the many ways we can capture and express our essence: through storytelling, photography, video, music, autobiography, meaningful conversations, creative arts and more. We talk with artists, musicians, storytellers, people living vibrant lives, and experts who help preserve stories. Along the way, we discover how engaging with our creativity and stories isn’t just about preservation—it’s about nurturing our overall health and wellbeing in the present moment.
Why “for Care”?
Because life is unpredictable. When we eventually need healthcare support—whether for ourselves or loved ones—having our essence captured means care teams can see us as whole people, not just patients. They’ll know what brings us joy, what matters most to us, and how to connect with who we truly are.
This podcast is for:
- Anyone who wants to preserve what makes them uniquely themselves
- People curious about life story work, personal history, and creative expression
- Those who believe our identities matter throughout our entire lives
- DIY-ers looking to learn how to capture stories themselves
- Professionals interested in person-centered approaches
- Anyone inspired by hearing how others capture and share their essence
Join host Lisa Joworski
Lisa is a Recreation and Life Story Resource specialist who brings together storytellers, artists, musicians, advocates, people living with dementia, healthcare practitioners, and life story experts. Each conversation offers insights and practical approaches for the beautiful ways we can honour our own stories and the stories of those we love—not just for memory’s sake, but for the fullness of living and for the care we may one day need.
Connect with Lisa:
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: facebook.com/AWEStruckAspirations
- Etsy Shop: etsy.com/ca/shop/AwestruckAspirations
New episodes release every other week. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation!
We talk with Heather Nickerson, founder of Artifcts, about turning everyday objects into a clear legacy of stories, value, and wishes so families aren't left guessing in grief. We connect memory, privacy, caregiving, and photo organization into simple steps you can start today with just one object.
- Heather's story of losing her mother suddenly and facing a home full of ”tangible assets”
- Why objects create stress during grief, and how documenting meaning reduces family conflict
- The ”eldest daughter tax” and how caregiving can show up as estate and logistics work
- How Artifcts works as a personal digital museum with photos, stories, audio, and video
- Using a five-item Legacy List to capture identity without needing expensive heirlooms
- Recording ”what happens next” for keepsakes — bequeathing, donating, or keeping in the family
- Downsizing and decluttering while keeping the memories and context
- QR codes that connect physical items to digital stories, including use in independent living
- Reminiscence support for dementia care through visual prompts and a flipbook view
- What Photo Managers do, and how Save Your Photos Month supports DIY photo preservation
Heather Nickerson is the Founder and CEO of Artifcts.com. She is an avid hiker, skier, baker, storyteller, and collector of memories. Prior to founding Artifcts Heather served as President of a private security company and authored a book on how to protect your privacy. She also served for nearly a decade as an intelligence analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency, including serving as a briefer in a war zone tour in Afghanistan.
Heather’s inspiration for Artifcts came after inheriting 6,000 square feet of ‘stuff’ from her mother’s estate and having to figure out not only what the ‘stuff’ was, but what her mother would have wanted to happen to it.
Connect with Heather and learn more about Artifcts: https://artifcts.com/about
The Photo Managers: https://thephotomanagers.com/
Take a listen to the conversation with Whitney Myers: https://capturingessenceforcare.buzzsprout.com/2460133/episodes/17615232
Thank you for listening!
Do you have a question or a topic related to ”capturing essence for care” that you would like discussed on the podcast?
Email: [email protected]
Or use the ”Send us Fan Mail” link at the top of the Episode Description to text the show!
Interested in learning more?
Intro and outro music with thanks: Upbeat and Sweet No Strings by Musictown
Lisa brings over 25 years of experience working in healthcare settings with older adults. The perspectives shared on this podcast are her own and do not represent the views of any past or current employer. Patient/resident stories are shared only with explicit permission or as anonymized composites for educational purposes.
Disclaimer
This podcast’s information is provided for general reference and was obtained from publicly accessible sources. The Podcast Collaborative neither produces nor verifies the content, accuracy, or suitability of this podcast. Views and opinions belong solely to the podcast creators and guests.
For a complete disclaimer, please see our Full Disclaimer on the archive page. The Podcast Collaborative bears no responsibility for the podcast’s themes, language, or overall content. Listener discretion is advised. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for more details.