The Moul Mouj toll-free number received a call from an elderly woman asking if someone could come and see her at home. There was nothing dramatic in her voice. No emergency. No complaint of severe pain. Just a quiet request: “I think I need to speak to a doctor. Can you come home?” I went.She was a widow. A retired woman with her own pension. The house was hers. The property was in her name. She had two sons, both living under the same roof, but in separate portions of the house. She had everything that, on paper, should have given her security. Except, perhaps, the feeling that she belonged there.

She spoke slowly. Not angrily. Not accusingly. Almost apologetically. Her medicines had not been reviewed for a long time. No one had taken her for a proper follow-up. She did not know which medicines she should continue and which needed review. When she needed medicines, she would telephone the local chemist, who would send them to her.Her sons were busy. That was the explanation. Busy with work. Busy with their own families. Busy with life. One son had not spoken to her properly for months. I listened.

Sometimes, during a home visit, the most important thing you can do is not examine the........

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