In community health, which client would most clearly require a multidisciplinary approach?

• A. 21 years old, pregnant, unemployed, and has active TB
• B. 21 years old, pregnant, employed, and has active TB
• C. 25 years old, not pregnant, with latent TB
• D. 30 years old, pregnant, employed, active TB

Answer: (C)

The key idea is that a multidisciplinary approach is most clearly needed when care involves coordinating across medical treatment, prevention, and social supports over time. A person with latent TB isn’t acutely ill, but preventing activation of the infection requires planning and collaboration among different parts of the health system: primary care to order and monitor preventive therapy, public health or TB control programs to handle screening and follow-up, pharmacists to manage medication safety and access, and social services to help with barriers like transportation, housing, or finances. This broad coordination helps ensure the preventive plan is started, completed, and monitored, reducing the risk of future illness and transmission.

In contrast, active TB cases (including during pregnancy) demand urgent, specialized medical management, infection-control measures, and obstetric or pediatric considerations. While those situations do involve multidisciplinary teams, the latent TB scenario most clearly demonstrates the need for ongoing cross-disciplinary coordination to implement preventive therapy and address social determinants over time.