Reflection on Complexity at the End-of-Life—More Nuanced than Simply Treating Patients the Way We Would Want to be Treated

Abstract

I relocated to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) just over three years ago, to start a new palliative care service in Abu Dhabi. Palliative care remains a relatively unknown medical specialty here in the UAE both among clinicians and the public. As a new team, we were recently reflecting on some of the more challenging situations that we faced since setting up the service. This case reinforces my belief that palliative care is complex, individualized, holistic care and ‘looks different’ for every patient and their family.