Otago Hospice care nurse Denise van Aalst has spent the past two years doing exactly that on her podcast series.
Ms van Aalst started her Ending Life Well podcast series nearly two years ago, and wrapped up the 29th and final episode recently.
"It’s really been a journey", she said.
"When I started I knew nothing about podcasts; but I thought to myself we had an opportunity to provide stories and information about our own programmes [at Otago Hospice].
"People have been so willing to share and to help us; I've been very lucky."
She was fortunate to have a core group of "really interesting speakers".
"The material side was easy, because the Otago Hospice’s kowhai programme has been researched and adapted over time.
"All of the episodes have had real meaning for me - it was a huge privilege to interview Dr Kathryn Mannix from the UK and Dr Ira Byock about their work.
"These people are hugely important in their field, but they are so humble about what they did."
The episodes covered subjects such as self-care, legal matters, funeral planning and whanau manaaki.
More than 8000 users had downloaded the podcast.
"We're very proud of this, considering it’s such a specialist topic - when I've gone out on visits, people have mentioned how much the podcasts have helped."
Ms van Aalst said she was particularly keen to promote the importance of self-care for hospice carers, as this was something that could often get overlooked in their work.
"As we've broadened the topics with the podcast, I've probably brought some of that into the kowhai programme. I've probably instilled a wider range of approaches as a result."
While she had wrapped up the podcast for now, Ms van Aalst said she would like to interview more carers about their work.
"It would be good to ask them ‘What’s the tough stuff’, ‘What do you love about the work’. Carers so often feel quite lonely in their role, so it would be great to get more of their perspective."
