None of Us Is as Smart as All of Us

Imagine Mrs. XYZ, a 69-year-old woman living in a remote area with her son’s family. One evening, she was brought to the hospital after a minor fall. Upon examination, her blood pressure was low, and she had a small fracture in her hip. The medical doctor admitted her for observation and pain management. During her care, the nurse noticed she seemed more confused than expected. During a medication review, the pharmacist realized she was taking two different medications prescribed by different doctors for the same condition, which were lowering her blood pressure, which might have led to the fall. A physiotherapist noticed that her muscle strength was poor for her age and suspected early frailty. The public health specialist spoke with her family and found out that Mrs. XYZ had a sedentary lifestyle with poor eating habits. The psychologist uncovered that she was grieving her husband’s recent death and suffering from undiagnosed depression. She was feeling like a burden to her family. If all these professionals had not spoken up or only worked in silos, Mrs. XYZ would’ve been discharged as ‘stable’, only to return weeks later with a major depressive episode, a serious injury or even something irreversible.