Dystrophy Patient Maryam Al Ali. Photo Courtesy: Amana Healthcare
Dystrophy Patient Maryam Al Ali. Photo Courtesy: Amana Healthcare

Patient summit: speak of 'life changing' approach to long term care



Patients have spoken publicly about the quality of care they have received at the first summit to help improve the experience in regional hospitals.

Muscular Dystrophy patient Maryam Al Ali, 53, first suffered from symptoms of the debilitating disease when she was 15.

Muscle weakness as a teenager led to regular falls, eventually confining her to a wheelchair when she was 25.

Ms Al Ali’s disease progressively worsened, but she continued her schooling, training to become a teacher in Arabic, math and science.

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Patient Experience Summit: 'life changing' approach to long term care

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She hopes to inspire others to stay positive when life is at its most difficult.

“I did not allow my diagnosis to change my life,” said Ms Al Ali.

“Nobody wants to be in hospital, and the years I spent in the intensive care unit were difficult and lonely, but I believe that this was God’s will for me.”

Ms Ali transferred to Amana Healthcare to receive long term care, where she has been able to lead an active and fulfilling life.

“The biggest healthcare development for me has been the increased awareness and focus on long-term care facilities in the UAE,” she said.

“When I became ill, my only option was to go into the ICU in acute care hospitals. Now there are facilities whose focus is on quality of life for patients with long-term chronic conditions such as mine.”

The first GCC Patient Experience Summit in Abu Dhabi aims to explore the latest ideas and new learning opportunities in the healthcare sector, by sharing testimonies of those receiving care.

The summit discussed the increasing role of technology in improving clinical care and efficiency of hospitals toward patients.

Since moving to Amana Healthcare in Abu Dhabi, Ms Al Ali has forged a strong relationship with staff, whom she said are positive and encouraging, treating her as a person, rather than a patient.

The approach has helped her keep a positive outlook on life.

“My goal is to motivate as many other people as I can who are in a similar situation as me to show them that their disease does not have to stop them from living a happy life,” she said.

“Although I am very shy by nature, the more I interact with and meet new people, the more confident I am.

“The feeling of helping others see the positive in their lives brings me so much happiness and positivity to mine.”

The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

On sale: Now

Vidaamuyarchi

Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
MATCH INFO

Watford 1 (Deulofeu 80' p)

Chelsea 2 (Abraham 5', Pulisic 55')

The bio

Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions

School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira

Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk

Dream City: San Francisco

Hometown: Dubai

City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
Other ways to buy used products in the UAE

UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.

Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.

Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.

For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.

Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.

At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.

The Energy Research Centre

Founded 50 years ago as a nuclear research institute, scientists at the centre believed nuclear would be the “solution for everything”.
Although they still do, they discovered in 1955 that the Netherlands had a lot of natural gas. “We still had the idea that, by 2000, it would all be nuclear,” said Harm Jeeninga, director of business and programme development at the centre.
"In the 1990s, we found out about global warming so we focused on energy savings and tackling the greenhouse gas effect.”
The energy centre’s research focuses on biomass, energy efficiency, the environment, wind and solar, as well as energy engineering and socio-economic research.

How to donate

Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale

Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni

Director: Amith Krishnan

Rating: 3.5/5

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