Palliative & Supportive Care
Whole-Person Palliative & Supportive Care —Comfort, Dignity, and Choice.
Symptom relief, psychosocial support, and goal-aligned care for patients and families facing serious illness.
Palliative & Supportive Care at Burjeel Medical City focuses on relief of pain, distressing symptoms, and psychosocial or spiritual stress related to serious illness. Services include inpatient consultation, dedicated outpatient clinic, embedded specialty-specific supportive-care pathways (oncology, heart failure, neurodegenerative disease), hospice liaison, and bereavement follow-up. Early palliative integration has been shown to improve survival, patient satisfaction, and caregiver well-being.
10
fellowship-trained palliative-medicine physicians & 14 specialized nurses> 3 600
inpatient consults and 2 400 outpatient visits in 202448-hour
median advance-care-planning completion after consult92 %
of oncology patients report ≥ 30 % pain reduction within 48 hCommon Conditions & Subspecialty Clinics.
- Individual and group grief counseling
- Memorial events and tribute services
- Screening for complicated grief risk
- Coordination with hospice providers
- Rapid discharge protocols for home hospice
- Supportive care for neonatal and pediatric patients
- Play therapy and age-appropriate interventions
- Family-focused counseling and coordination
- ALS, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia care
- Spasticity management and communication support
- Caregiver education and psychosocial support
- Dyspnea and anxiety control
- Addressing device-related quality-of-life issues
- Transition planning to hospice
- Embedded in multidisciplinary tumor boards
- Co-management of chemotherapy-induced side effects
- Advance-care and end-of-life discussions
- Chronic symptom control during survivorship
- Management of fatigue, cachexia, and chronic pain
- Symptom management (pain, dyspnea, nausea)
- Complex decision-making support
- Goals-of-care and code-status discussions
Procedures & Treatments.
Fatigue & Insomnia
Energizing daytime routines, methylphenidate, sleep hygiene, melatonin
Cachexia & Anorexia
Appetite stimulants, omega-3 supplementation, dietitian-guided high-calorie formulas
Anxiety & Delirium
Low-dose antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, dexmedetomidine infusion protocols
Nausea/Vomiting
Multi-mechanism anti-emetic algorithms, cannabinoid therapy
Dyspnea Relief
Opioids, fan therapy, non-invasive ventilation, high-flow nasal oxygen
Interventional Pain
Nerve blocks, intrathecal pumps (with Pain Service)
Complex Pain Control
Opioid rotation, patient-controlled analgesia (PCA), methadone conversion, adjuvant neuropathic agents
Advance-directive and electronic POLST documentation into EMR
Family meetings facilitated by trained mediators
Video-based decision aids for CPR and ventilation options
Structured Serious Illness Conversation Guide
Essential-Oil Aromatherapy for symptom relief
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) groups
Massage & Reiki for pain and anxiety
Music & Art Therapy
Child-life specialists for pediatric-patient siblings
Spiritual-care consults for meaning-centered therapy
Financial and legal counseling via social work
Respite-care planning and skill training
Care Pathway & Coordination.
Trigger & Referral
Automatic referral triggers (ESAS ≥ 4, ICU > 7 days, metastatic diagnosis) or clinician request.
Initial Assessment
Symptom inventory, psychosocial and spiritual screening, prognostic understanding.
Interdisciplinary Care Plan
Daily IDT huddle; goals prioritized by patient values.
Ongoing Management & Family Meetings
At least bi-weekly for outpatients; daily for inpatients as needed.
Transition Planning
Home-based palliative care vs. hospice; equipment and medication arrangements.
Bereavement Follow-Up
Risk assessment, grief counseling, and memorial service invitation.
Technology & Facilities.
ESAS-ePRO Tablet System
Real-time patient-reported symptom scores integrated into EMR
Virtual-Reality (VR) Relaxation Pods
Guided imagery for pain and anxiety reduction
Dedicated Family Meeting Suites
Comfortable, private rooms with tele-conference capability
24/7 Palliative-Care Hotline & Tele-Palliative Platform
Smart-Pump PCA with RFID
for medication safety
Aromatherapy & Music-Therapy Studio
within inpatient unit
