2 March 2022
In honour of Hearing Awareness Week, we want to direct our attention to those at Regis working with the deaf community.
Meet Maria Kuzmicheva, our Lifestyle Assistant at Regis Blackburn. Maria has been with Regis since 2010, starting as a Personal Care Assistant and then working in a Resident Companion role before moving into her current position. She was attracted to working within the aged care sector because she enjoys “helping people and engaging with the deaf community.”
Maria works closely with the deaf community in her role due to there being a deaf wing at Regis Blackburn. She is also deaf and able to communicate through Auslan to our deaf residents. A typical day for Maria focuses on “assisting residents in their day-to-day tasks and ensuring their personal wellbeing.” She loves her role because she gets to “interact with a range of different people and learn more about them.” Maria particularly loves working with the elder community because she has developed amazing connections with the residents, and since she does not have many family members in Australia, she feels she has “been able to form a family with the residents.”
Outside of work, Maria loves to do art and crochet, as well as spend time with her loved ones. When asked what advice she would give to those contemplating a career in aged care, Maria shared to “always exercise empathy and patience, and always try to find moments of joy.” Maria feels as though Home is “a place to be with my family and relax, and do the things I enjoy.”
