Palliative Care and Islamic Ethics: Exploring Key Issues and Best Practices, Ghaly et al (2018) (original) (raw)

Foreword: Palliative care (PC) is a relatively new medical specialization that embodies a number of universally shared values. Its principal aims are to relieve pain and other distressing symptoms (such as shortness of breath), improve quality of life for people living with serious illness, and provide patients with good end-of-life care. In their attempt to serve these noble goals, and to approach the patient as a whole person, rather than just someone with a health condition, PC physicians face various ethical dilemmas. To provide culturally sensitive PC, patients’ (religious) beliefs and moral worlds must be integral parts of the care package. This study addresses some of the key ethical questions raised around PC from an Islamic perspective. Because Islamic ethics do not work in a vacuum, substantial attention is paid to PC practices worldwide and in Muslim-majority countries. Contemporary Islamic bioethics has not produced a substantial body of research dedicated to PC so, in some areas, we started from the beginning. This report should be seen as exploratory research, to open up new ideas and discourse rather than provide definitive answers. Our study is informed by research commissioned by World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) and carried out by YouGov. An online survey conducted in Muslim-majority countries – including Indonesia, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia – asked the general public to evaluate PC services and explored whether considering a patient’s religious beliefs and values was an integral part of good-quality PC. This study does not claim to exhaust all PC ethical dilemmas and issues. It focuses on analyzing ethical issues faced by healthcare professionals, including insight into the moral issues present when treating patients with a Muslim background. We hope this study will also highlight to healthcare policymakers and legislators the need to develop regulatory frameworks in alignment with the religioethical fabric of Muslim societies. Summary: PC is an integral part of healthcare, and many countries in the Arab world are increasingly offering this care. Experts predict a rise in the demand for PC. There are various reasons for this, including the increase of geriatric populations and prevalence of chronic and life-limiting diseases, which affect adults and children of all ages. This study focuses on Islamic bioethical perspectives, although other perspectives are considered. And, as in the WISH 2016 report Genomics in the Gulf Region and Islamic Ethics,1 the structure of this study reflects a specific vision for how Islamic bioethics should engage with PC. The study is divided into three sections covering: 1. International perspectives, including a historical overview of PC’s development, global expansion and evolving scope 2. PC practices in the Middle East, especially Qatar 3. Islamic ethical perspectives on PC and Muslim patients.