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Giving older people the opportunity to optimise their quality of life

Alice L Holmes, Marta H Woolford and Joseph E Ibrahim
Med J Aust 2018; 208 (8): . || doi: 10.5694/mja17.01238
Published online: 7 May 2018

There are some populations for whom unequal health cannot be overcome and a preoccupation with preserving health detrimentally affects their quality of life.1 Imagine you live in residential aged care, your health is irreversibly poor and you have days left to live. You want to go for a walk in the sunshine, but are prevented from doing so in case you fall and harm yourself. Your health cannot improve; yet, you are denied the opportunity to enjoy life.


  • 1 Monash University, Melbourne, VIC
  • 2 Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, Melbourne, VIC


Correspondence: joseph.ibrahim@vifm.org

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

  • 1. King C. The future of health care in Australia. Med J Aust 2017; 207: 415-416. <MJA full text>
  • 2. Lobentanz IS, Asenbaum S, Vass K, et al. Factors influencing quality of life in multiple sclerosis patients: disability, depressive mood, fatigue and sleep quality. Acta Neurol Scand 2004; 110: 6-13.
  • 3. Ibrahim JE, Davis M. Impediments to applying the “dignity of risk” principle in residential aged care services. Australas J Ageing 2013; 32: 188-193.
  • 4. Olsen C, Pedersen I, Bergland A, et al. Differences in quality of life in home dwelling persons and nursing home residents with dementia — a cross-sectional study. BMC Geriatr 2016; 16: 137-148.

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