Palliative Care
Palliative care is a multidisciplinary approach to provide specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses.
It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, physical stress, and mental stress of a serious illness – whatever the diagnosis.
Palliative care can be provided across multiple settings including in hospitals, in the patient’s home, as part of community palliative care programs, and in skilled nursing facilities.
The goal of such therapy is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.
Palliative care is most often associated with terminal cancer but there are many other chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease & end stage diabetes where palliative care is needed. In children there are congenital abnormalities and genetic conditions. Palliative care also has a role to play in the care of the elderly and particularly patients in with dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. As the ageing population of Oman grows, there will be an increasing demand for special health care services for senior citizens.
“The first step is to raise awareness of the issues involved and increase understanding of the benefits of palliative care in the community. We are delighted that the Oman Observer has agreed to be the media partner in this project with a series of articles and updates which will provide a forum for the community. Discussions have already begun in both the private and government sector which is vital in these challenging economic times. The next stage will be to fund a study to take the project forward.”
Our Team
1996 with her late husband Professor William Dampier Jeans, who was Professor of Radiology at SQU.
Hospital and founder of the Oman Alzheimer’s Association
interest in Palliative Care.
Royal Hospital and new Comprehensive Cancer Care Centre at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) with a special interest in Palliative Care.
at the Royal Hospital, Muscat, Oman. He obtained his medical degree from Sultan Qaboos University, in Oman in 1997. He achieved the MRCP UK certificate in 2004, completed his rheumatology training at the University of Toronto, Canada in 2008 and was awarded fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of London in 2011. He did his training in obstetric medicine at Guy’s and St Thomas Hospitals, UK in 2014 and immunology at the Royal London Hospital in 2015.
Dr. Al Wahshi is a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the College of Medicine, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. He is involved in undergraduate and postgraduate training and is an official trainer and examiner for the Oman Medical Specialties Board (OMSB). He was a member of the internal medicine program scientific committee and Assistant Program Director. He is a founder and ex-president of the Oman Society of Rheumatology and a member and fellow of many regional and international professional associations. Dr Al Wahshi has authored several publications in rheumatology and immunology and gave many talks in local and international meetings. Dr. Al Wahshi established the first combined rheumatology/obstetric clinic in Oman in 2016 and is establishing a cohort for pregnant patients with rheumatic diseases. He continues to treat patients with rheumatic diseases, particularly systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS).
regulator. With health and wellness being at the center of all his studies, work, teaching and learning. He thinks empowerment, support and care for all of those who need it, their families, communities, and whole nation is the way to go for a brighter future of palliative care.
care and acute medicine has made her keenly aware of the importance of end of life care. She teaches her students and residents about having the difficult conversations with their patients in this important time and is motivated to make sure doctors in primary, secondary and tertiary care are all confident and competent to take care of people at the end of their life.
Within the oman palliative care alliance, she is happy to be part of the community outreach as well as medical education champion for palliative care within internal medicine as a field.