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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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
MANDOOB
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Ali%20Kalthami%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Mohammed%20Dokhei%2C%20Sarah%20Taibah%2C%20Hajar%20Alshammari%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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
THE%20SWIMMERS
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