Burnout among healthcare professionals is a critical global challenge that undermines workforce well-being, organizational effectiveness, and patient safety. This working paper presents an integrative review of burnout mitigation strategies, categorizing interventions across individual, organizational, and technological domains. It frames burnout as a multidimensional occupational phenomenon, highlights its causes and consequences, and synthesizes evidence from empirical studies and systematic reviews, with a particular focus on the UAE and comparable healthcare contexts. The findings indicate that individual-level strategies enhance coping capacity and resilience, while organizational-level interventions address systemic and structural drivers. Additionally, technological solutions offer scalable and innovative approaches to support healthcare professionals. However, significant gaps remain in longitudinal evaluations, interventions beyond physicians, and economic assessments of cost-effectiveness. The paper concludes with practical implications for policymakers, managers, practitioners, and researchers in the UAE, emphasizing that burnout mitigation is not only an ethical imperative but also a strategic priority for sustaining workforce resilience and maintaining high-quality healthcare. These findings guide UAE healthcare leaders in prioritizing cost-effective, culturally adaptable burnout mitigation strategies to enhance staff well-being and patient outcomes.

Q-Learning-like fairness-aware deep reinforcement learning framework based on a modified Dueling Deep Q-Learning-Like architecture. The proposed system introduces a complex approach to addressing fairness in decision-making processes while maintaining high performance in system base data configuration assessment tasks in different categories. The architecture implements a multi-model feature approach for fairness optimization, incorporating numerous data processing pipelines that handle multiple concurrent data streams. It includes a fairness-aware deep Q-learning-like architecture with a multi-state model, an integrated multi-stream processing system, and a weight-based reward mechanism balancing prediction and accuracy with fairness metrics. Experimental results have shown the effectiveness of our approach in maintaining fairness across different featured groups while achieving high performance in system base data configuration assessment tasks. Unlike traditional system base data configuration assessment methods that rely on subjective self-reporting, which are vulnerable to cultural biases, literacy barriers, and limited effectiveness in non-verbal patients (e.g., infants, critically ill, or cognitively impaired individuals)—our automated approach provides objective, continuous monitoring with consistent interpretation across diverse patient populations. This addresses critical clinical challenges, including disparities in system base data configuration management across demographic groups, clinician bias in system base data configuration assessment, and communication barriers in vulnerable populations. Furthermore, our fairness-aware framework specifically mitigates algorithmic biases that might otherwise perpetuate existing inequities in system base data configuration management.

Obesity is an epidemic that affects the whole world and the country of the United Arab Emirates is not an exception as this problem afflicts a large percentage of the population. The point of consumptive trends that are dominated by high-fat fast foods, sedentary living, and compounded by stringent climatic weather conditions, all together damage the health and wellbeing, all pre-determined by the harsh climatic conditions, are the major cause of this phenomenon. There are other contributory factors which enhances further to increase the prevalence of obesity among individual populations. However, the problem can be based on multifaceted interventions. The threat of becoming obese is significantly reduced by avoiding high-fat fast food and soft drinks that are rich in calories. All the governmental bodies, non-governmental organizations, service agencies, and the media and educators play a central role in the propagation of healthy lifestyle practices among the people and herding obesity in various national settings.

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is a notable health concern during pregnancy, affecting a considerable number of births globally, with varying prevalence rates reported in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This literature review explores the state of knowledge regarding GDM and its risk factors among individuals in the UAE highlighting the importance of health literacy for adherence to management protocols and improved pregnancy outcomes. It also aims to provide an overview of the factors associated with GDM within the UAE. Studies conducted in the UAE indicate a moderate awareness of GDM among women and students, influenced by marital status, education, and prior exposure. UAE University students demonstrated good awareness of GDM risk factors, particularly a personal history of GDM and pre-pregnancy overweight or obesity, but their awareness of multiparity as a risk factor was limited. Information mainly comes from family, media, and schools, with limited input from healthcare providers. High BMI, previous GDM, family history of diabetes, and older age were found to be the key risk factors for developing GDM in the UAE. This highlights the need for focused health education, pre-pregnancy counselling, and early screening to improve GDM awareness, early detection, and reduce complications in the UAE.

Quality Improvement (QI) programs and patient safety are the key elements of contemporary healthcare systems, as they are stipulated in terms of patient outcomes, error prevention, and op-timization of healthcare delivery. The combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies into QI programs has potentially transformative potential, but it also raises serious ethical issues. This paper examines ethical implications associated with QI and patient safety in health care with the four fundamental ethical principles, such as beneficence, nonmalefi-cence, justice and autonomy. The study describes major ethical dilemmas of using digital health technologies and presents them through the review of recent literature, covering studies on AI in healthcare, patient safety protocols, and evidence-based practices. Results have identified issues of patient well-being, privacy of patient data, health care access equity, and informed consent in healthcare systems based on AI. The paper highlights the importance of explicit ethical standards and regulatory policies that would guarantee that QI programs and AI technologies are used in the best interest of patients without infringing on their rights. The review recommends enhancing the frequency of communication, patient engagement, and ethical considerations in AI implemen-tation in the healthcare industry to maintain ethical integrity and advance patient safety. The study will serve as an addition to the current debate on the way to reconcile the technological progress, as well as the ethical healthcare practices, in the search for better patient outcomes.

There was a current research gap on the ethical and cultural issues associated with decision-making of End of Life (EOL) in the Middle Eastern countries, and it was investigated in this working paper. It was important to conduct this research because of the ageing population and the increase in chronic diseases. The findings will be beneficial for the practitioners and decision makers of the Middle Eastern countries to understand the strategies to over-come these barriers. The literature reviewed suggests that the decision-making of the patients is influenced by several factors, such as their cultural background and family. However, the usefulness of a culturally sensitive communication method was missing from the reviewed literature. The study has incorporated a literature review that explores the ethical and cultural factors impacting end-of-life decisions among countries in the Middle East. Secondary data has been selected as the key source due to the sensitivity nature of the research on end-of-life care and the difficulty of direct engagement with families or patients having a terminal illness. In the Middle East, end-of-life care has been shaped by the complex interplay among the paternal-istic practices in medicine, family-based decision-making, and religious beliefs. The cultural dynamics are rooted deeply in the values, but they have a contradiction with the ethical practices in the international market related to informed consent and patient autonomy.

Obesity is prevailing among the UAE population, and it is observed from a recent study in 2023, it was found that 3 out of 10 are obese. This study investigates obesity among the UAE population and highlights the need to implement intervention target mainly the university students. This study adopts quantitative approach collecting secondary data in the form of literature review and from different relevant sources to observe global and local intervention in practice and propose intervention for university students (UNI.FIT HUB). This intervention aims to provide effective monitoring, assessment and evaluation of each student and consequently provide management plans to ensure the obesity is reduced among the students. The findings of this study indicated that in the UAE, there is need for AI-based obesity reduction application among the university students which offers wide range of features for effective obesity reduction and prevention and control measures. Some of the risk factors identified are lack of physical activity, attitude towards healthy diet and lifestyle, fast food, fat rich food, and high calorie soft drinks.

Veterinary hospitals within the UAE are identified to be continuously strengthening relevancies towards the public health, community wellbeing and animal welfare. However, the overall management of these facilities is identified in presenting the distinct challenges that are identified as different from the mainstream healthcare settings. This working paper explores the key operations and strategic challenges faced by the veterinary hospital leaders within the UAE, along with the emerging facilitators that would help in developing resilient practice environments. The research is developed based on the synthesis of the peer-reviewed literature, followed by the observation insights considered in the veterinary practices across the UAE. The four major challenges identified are: staff recruitment and retention, client communication and trust issues, followed by inconsistent and burdensome regulatory requirements and lastly, the higher cost and complexity of technology adoption. In contrast, the paper has also highlighted the key facilitators, therefore supporting the overall sector within the UAE. Some of them include the growth of the local veterinary education program, the adoption of digital technologies, followed by the increased public awareness of animal welfare and the local veterinary education programs. Thus, they indicate the positive trajectory towards the consideration of enhanced veterinary healthcare services. The analysis identified the relevance of proactive managerial strategies, inclusive of client education, investments in staff development, cost-effective digital tools and regulatory engagement. The findings have significant managerial implication thus, recommending that the veterinary hospital administrators should prioritise on local based tailored HR initiatives thus, engaging the ongoing regulatory compliance and therefore, integrating the digital workforce. This paper concludes with reflections on limitations and offers suggestions for future research in UAE veterinary management.

Report Summary / Abstract The prospective areas of enhancing the maternity patient experience in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) public and private hospitals are explored in terms of the working paper. The maternity experience of patients influences clinical outcomes, maternal mental health, breastfeeding success, and trust in the health system. Patient safety and quality healthcare measures have been an area of heavy investment in the UAE, and national strategies are focused on an approach that is respectful and person-centered; however, regional research has indicated variation in patient satisfaction regarding waiting times, responsiveness, communication, and cultural/language needs. This study uses a working-paper approach to synthesize international evidence on determinants of positive maternity experiences (communication, continuity of carer, respectful care, environment, and information continuity) with UAE specifics of policy. It suggests a realistic, evidence-informed intervention package for UAE hospitals: (1) the standardized pathways of communications and informed consent; (2) the staffing models and continuity (midwife-led pathway where possible); (3) cultural and language mediation services; (4) postpartum stay-related environmental and hospitality improvements; and (5) regular measurements of the patient experience and feedback loops based on performance indicators. Implementation guidance, a plan of evaluation (mixed-methods pilot), and a KPI set are added where the institutions can test and scale interventions. It ends the paper with managerial implications: steps in operations, training emphasis for staff, mechanisms for involving patients, and proposed follow-on research to verify impact and economics of scale.

Background: While the UAE has achieved remarkable progress in reducing maternal mortality, postpartum morbidity and women’s long-term recovery remain underrepresented in national surveillance and policy. Objective: This study aimed to identify unaddressed postpartum health issues and assess public and physician perspectives on the demand for enhanced postpartum care services in the UAE. Methods: A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining a cross-sectional survey of 167 participants (70% female) with semi-structured interviews of four obstetricians/gynecologists in a government hospital. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively, while interview transcripts underwent thematic analysis. Results: Both data sources revealed significant gaps in postpartum care, particularly regarding pelvic floor dysfunction, mental health screening, contraception counselling, and lactation support. Public respondents expressed limited awareness of formal services but indicated substantial interest in accessible, affordable, and culturally sensitive support—favoring government-supervised models. Physicians emphasized the need for community-based follow-up, partner-inclusive education, and integrated psychosocial care. Conclusion: Findings highlight an urgent need to expand postpartum care in the UAE beyond short hospital stays toward culturally adapted, continuous care models. Policy recommendations include piloting a mixed-service approach that combines midwife-led home visits with a hospital-affiliated postpartum recovery centre “postpartum care hotel”, integrating postpartum morbidity indicators into national surveillance, and ensuring equitable access through government oversight and subsidy mechanisms. Public Health Significance: Addressing these gaps could improve maternal mental health, reduce preventable complications, and set a regional benchmark for holistic, culturally responsive postpartum care.