Hi, my name is Jageet Kaur, and I am the founder of St. Mary’s Nursing Home. People fondly know me as Sonia. I was brought up in Penang and completed my nursing education in the United Kingdom. St. Mary’s Nursing Home was established as a way for me to contribute to the society. The St Mary’s establishment was formed in 1985 after the demise of my husband. Back then I was just 32 years old, a single parent to my two little boys. Since I am passionate and also qualified in nursing, and had some experience in taking care of the elderly, I always believe that the setting up of St Mary’s is my way to contribute to my family and society. We started with our first home in Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur. Afterwards, we expanded to a network comprising four homes across Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya. Currently, each of our homes is capable to accommodate 15 to 30 residents at any given time. Most of our residents are incapacitated and require ambulatory assistance. People always wonder the services and usual activities offered by the centre. Speaking of the services, we provide services for post-stroke care, dementia care, cancer care, respite care and also post-operation care. Our daily activities are purposely designed to stimulate both physical and mental health of our residents. For instance, we have the group and personal physiotherapy activities. During the physiotherapy activities, we indulge the elderly in drawing, colouring, playing puzzles and mahjong games. We often organise some activities which are participated together by the residents’ family members. These activities included sports day, baking, as well as fashion activities. In our homes, there are nurses and caregivers to care for the residents 24 hours a day. For category one sickness which refers to fever, headache or vomiting, we normally inspect the resident and provide necessary medication at the home. However, if the symptoms continue to escalate or in case of any other emergency situation, we will inform their family members for the necessary arrangement, including sending the resident to any nearby hospital for immediate medical care. People are curious about why did I ventured into this line. As I have mentioned before, I took up nursing since it is my passion to look after the elderly. As I grow older myself, I see how elderly care is becoming a necessity in our society. Do you know that ‘care’ is now a premium service that not many people can afford? Especially at this time when our country is mired in the economic downturn. For me, the greatest sense of achievement would always be to witness that the residents are recovering well, and becoming healthy once again. I feel jubilant when I see a post-stroke resident being able to walk again after joining our stroke rehabilitation sessions. Many will ask would it be hard to take care of the residents. I would be lying if I say it isn’t. Caring for each individual is always a challenge, some come to us in better health while some may not. For instances, our staff need to take care for a diabetic resident’s pressure wounds which has not been cared for, as well as a tube feeding resident who keeps on removing the tube as he or she is suffering from dementia. So, yup, I would say it can be quite challenging to look of the residents who need specific care. Over here in St. Mary’s, the monthly cost for a resident will be anywhere from RM1,500 to RM3,500, depending on the his or her health condition. The expenses of our homes are quite high, when everything including food, labour, utility bills and maintenance work are factored in. At the moment, we are planning to set up a home that caters specifically to the B40 group. In this post-pandemic ea, many people are forced to seek employment again due to closure of businesses. Besides, the shortage of domestic helpers has forced many people to look for homes where their loved ones can be looked after. However, the affordability is a major hurdle for them. I am thinking that if we can reduce their burden by providing care for their loved ones inexpensively, I believe we can have a better and healthy society. In terms of difficulties, there are plenty! To get a tailor-made building as nursing home or care centres like ours can be pretty challenging. We have to continue renovating and maintaining our existing building to meet the healthcare needs of our residents, and these cost us a lot of money and time. We also have to continuously re-train our staff to ensure that they stay updated with latest care procedures. Not just that, staff turnover is also an issue that we face all the time. Last but not least, on behalf of St. Mary’s, thank you to Panda Charity for their kind assistance.